RACIAL THREAT, CONCENTRATED DISADVANTAGE AND SOCIAL CONTROL: CONSIDERING THE MACRO‐LEVEL SOURCES OF VARIATION IN ARRESTS*

TLDR

Studies linking racial threat, measured by black population size, to social control have mixed results, partly because researchers rely on percent black and overlook other conceptual and methodological factors. The study estimates how various measures of racial economic threat—black population size, racial inequality, and black immigration patterns—affect black arrest rates. Using 2000 census and arrest data, the authors integrate racial competition and race‑relations theories to assess how concentrated black disadvantage moderates the perceived threat to white interests. Results reveal distinct, conceptually separate relationships among racial threat, concentrated disadvantage, and social control against blacks, especially when contrasted with white arrest patterns.

Abstract

Several studies have examined the relationship between racial threat (measured by the size of black population) and social control imposed on blacks, but evidence of this hypothesis has been mixed. Although dependency on percent black as the main indicator of racial threat in many studies has contributed to the inconsistency in findings, we argue that this literature has also neglected to consider other important conceptual and methodological issues. Using 2000 census and arrest data, we estimate the impact of multiple measures of racial economic threat, such as the size of the black population, racial inequality and black immigration patterns on black arrest rates. Furthermore, by integrating racial competition and race‐relations arguments, we examine how the concentration of black disadvantage may temper the extent to which blacks pose a threat to white interests. Our findings reveal important and conceptually distinct relationships between racial threat, concentrated disadvantage and the use of social control against blacks, particularly when compared to white arrests.