Invisible Men:Mass Incarceration and the Myth of Black Progress

Becky PettitDepartment of SociologyUniversity of Washington

bpettit@u.washington.edu

October 2012

“I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.”

-Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)

United States Prison and Jail Population, 1925-2008

Civilian Incarceration Rates, Men 20-34, by Education and Race

White Men 1980 1990 2000 2008LTHS 2.4 3.8 7.7 12.0HS/GED 0.8 1.4 2.3 2.0Some College 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.3All 0.6 1.1 1.6 1.8

Civilian Incarceration Rates, Men 20-34, by Education and Race

White Men 1980 1990 2000 2008LTHS 2.4 3.8 7.7 12.0HS/GED 0.8 1.4 2.3 2.0Some College 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.3All 0.6 1.1 1.6 1.8 Black Men 1980 1990 2000 2008LTHS 10.6 19.6 30.2 37.2HS/GED 4.7 7.1 11.7 9.1Some College 1.9 2.9 2.1 2.1All 5.2 8.3 11.2 11.4

Educational Attainment of Male Inmates, 20-34

1980

White BlackLTHS 40.7 52.7

HS/GED 54.2 34.3

Some College 16.1 13.1

Educational Attainment of Male Inmates, 20-34

1980 2008

White Black White BlackLTHS 40.7 52.7 52.7 61.8

HS/GED 54.2 34.3 35.5 30.6

Some College 16.1 13.1 11.8 7.7

Data

Non-institutionalized population• Current Population Survey (CPS March 1980-2008)

Data

Non-institutionalized population• Current Population Survey (CPS March 1980-2008)Inmate population• Aggregate inmate counts (1980-2008)

Data

Non-institutionalized population• Current Population Survey (CPS March 1980-2008)Inmate population• Aggregate inmate counts (1980-2008)• Survey of Inmates of Local Jails (1978, 1983, 1989,

1996, 2002)• Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities

(1979, 1986, 1991, 1997, 2004)• Survey of Inmates of Federal Correctional Facilities

(1991, 1997, 2004)

Method

• Construct estimates of indicators for household(HH) and inmate (I ) populations

Method

• Construct estimates of indicators for household(HH) and inmate (I ) populations

• Calculate weighted average of indicators including both groups using weights derived from CPS estimates of the civilian population

Percent of Men Not Completing High School/GED, 2008.

N-H White N-H BlackObserved 7.2 13.5

Percent of Men Not Completing High School/GED, 2008.

N-H White N-H BlackObserved 7.2 13.5Adjusted 8.0 19.0

Percent of Men Not Completing High School/GED, 2008.

N-H White N-H BlackObserved 7.2 13.5Adjusted 8.0 19.0% Difference 11% 41%

Racial Inequality in High School Dropout Rates, Men 20-34, 1980-2008

“Selection Effect” due to Incarceration

Conclusions

• Prison or jail is normative among some social and demographic groups

• Excluding inmates from surveys obscures portraits of inequality

• Including inmates, we find:– No improvement in high school dropout rate among young,

black men– Young, black, male dropouts are more likely to be in prison or

jail than be employed– The same fraction of young, black male dropouts voted in

2008 as in 1980

Why is Invisible Men Challenging?

• Out of the mainstream of American sociology, which now focuses on formulating and testing scientific hypotheses

• Contradicts the notion of black progress in the post-civil rights era

• Implicates much social science (and social scientists) as complicit