Crime Overview - Offenders: Blacks At High Rates

During the 15 year period charted above, more of the black population aged 18 years and older was under correctional supervision that either the white or the other races, or both of those combined. To illustrate how this chart works, consider the year 2000. In that year 10,085 blacks, out of 100,000 blacks aged 18 and over, were under correctional supervision. The corresponding value for whites was 2,275 and for the other races combined 1,305 per 100,000 (of the respective race) aged 18 and over. Another way to put this is to say that 10% of the black adult population, 2.3% of the white, and 1.3% of the other races were under probation, in jail, in prison, or on parole.

In raw numbers, of course, whites are the majority of this population. Whites are the majority racial groups. Whites were 83% of the 18+ population but only 60% of the correctional population, blacks were 12% of this age group but 38% of corrections — this is a pattern that repeats in many different contexts. The other races were 4.7% of population,1.9% of corrections and thus had the best ratio — they had the fewest people in corrections. As shown on the chart, the "all other" category includes Asians, Native Hawaiians, other Pacific Islanders, American Indian, and Aleuts.

The correctional population has grown within each group — least among other races, where 2000 values are 1.7 times 1985 values. Among whites, this multiple is 1.8, among blacks 1.9 — in other words, nearly twice as many people are under correctional supervision in 2000 than were in 1985. The many possible reasons for this will be explored in the remainder of this volume.

Blacks and whites shown are non-Hispanics. The majority of Hispanics are of Caucasian origin.

The pie chart to the left shows the racial breakdown of those who were either in jail or in prison in 2000. The majority of those confined (67.9% of some 1.9 million people) were in prison (1.3 million), incarcerated for more than one year. The pie chart is somewhat misleading because it segregates Hispanics as if they were a racial group. Alas, the data come that way. If the Hispanic portion were reported by race, whites would have the largest share of the incarcerated population because Hispanics are predominantly of Caucasian race. The black slice would be a slight bit larger, the "other races" by a sliver.¹

All races shown include those of Hispanic origin. The probation and parole population was 17% Hispanic in 2000.

The correctional population on probation and parole, which is shown on the next pie chart, is reported by race alone, Hispanics being folded into the respective racial categories — but they comprise 17% of this population, slightly higher than in prisons and jails. Note the effect that has on the population of white probationers and parolees. Whites have a higher share of the probation and parole population than blacks. In 2000, 3.8 million people were on probation and 725,500 on parole.

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, Correctional Populations in the United States, multiple years, Prison and Jail Inmates at Mid-year, multiple years, and Prisoners in 1998, 1999, and 2000. Data are available from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pubalp2.htm.