Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Fairchild, Emily

Keywords

Race, Gender, Crime, Jail, Sentencing, Drugs

Area of Concentration

Sociology

Abstract

Currently in the United States, African-American women are incarcerated at a rate 3 times as high as White women. After the establishment of the War on Drugs in the 1980s, incarceration rates tripled, with a particular increase in Black inmates. For my study I investigated whether or not there were racial discrepancies in sentencing amongst women. I gathered data about females that were incarcerated in 2011 from a jail in Florida. I conducted one-way and two-way analysis of variances to determine whether or not race was a significant factor in determining sentencing length across crime type and drug type. I found that race did not have a significant interaction with sentencing length. I conclude that although race was not a significant factor within my population, I can not generalize the situation because of the inconsistencies in racial classification and sentencing guidelines across different states' criminal justice systems. Therefore, I find that this is a topic worthy of constant attention as changes in legislation affect the future of incarcerated women of color.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida Libraries, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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