The Changing Racial
Dynamics of Women’s
Incarceration
Marc Mauer
February 2013

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

I

n the first decade of the 21st century the United States began to experience a
shift in the 30-year buildup to a world record prison system. Although the
decade ended with an increased number of people in prison, the rate of growth
overall was considerably below that of previous decades and since 2008 the overall
number of people in state prisons has declined slightly each year.
Scholars are beginning to analyze the relative contributions of changes in crime rates,
criminal justice policies, economics, and demographics to the slowing growth rate of
the prison system, but one area that has gone largely unexplored is the impact of
such changes on racial disparities in imprisonment. As is well known, black/white
disparities in the use of incarceration have been profound for quite some time. Since
the 1980s a series of analyses have documented these trends at the national level as
well as examining variation in disparity among the states. 1
As prison populations fluctuate, though, the relative rate of incarceration among
racial groups may or may not reflect prevailing patterns. Further, as the prospect of a
declining prison population has now become a distinct possibility for the next
decade, it will become increasingly important to monitor whether reduced
incarceration is experienced in similar ways across racial/ethnic groups.
This report first describes trends in incarceration for the first decade of the century,
and contrasts this with patterns of the previous decade. We then assess the extent of
change in the race and gender dynamics of incarceration over the past decade, and
suggest factors which may be contributing to these trends. The data in this report
document the following key findings:

1

See for example: Blumstein, A. (1993). Racial disproportionality of U.S. Prison populations
revisited. University of Colorado Law Review. 64; Mauer, M. & King, R.S. (2007). Uneven
justice: State rates of incarceration by race and ethnicity. Washington, DC: The Sentencing
Project; Tonry, M.H. (2011). Punishing race: A continuing American dilemma. New York: Oxford
University Press.

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

•

Racial/ethnic disparities in U.S. incarceration remain substantial – In 2009, 2
African Americans and Latinos constituted more than 60% of imprisoned
offenders. African American males were incarcerated in state and federal
prisons at 6.4 times the rate of non-Hispanic white males, and Hispanic
males at 2.4 times the rate of non-Hispanic whites. 3

•

Declining rate of incarceration for African Americans – From 2000 to 2009
the rate of incarceration in state and federal prisons declined 9.8% for black
men and 30.7% for black women.

•

Rates of incarceration for whites and Latinos generally rising – Incarceration
rates for white men and women rose 8.5% and 47.1%, respectively from
2000 to 2009. For Hispanics the men’s rate declined by 2.2% while the
women’s rate rose by 23.3%.

•

Dramatic shift in racial disparities among women – In 2000 black women
were incarcerated in state and federal prisons at six times the rate of white
women. By 2009 that ratio had declined by 53%, to 2.8:1. This shift was a
result of both declining incarceration of African American women and rising
incarceration of white women. The disparity between Hispanic and nonHispanic white women declined by 16.7% during this period.

Similar trends can be seen among men, but at a lesser scale, with a decline of 16.9%
in the black/white incarceration ratio over the decade. The disparity between
Hispanic and non-Hispanic white men declined by 11.1%.

2

National data in this report are for 2010, but data for the analysis of prison populations by race
and ethnicity are for 2000 and 2009. This is because the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that
“the data source used to estimate race and Hispanic origin changed in 2010.”
3
Guerino, P., Harrison, P.M. & Sabol, W.J. (2012). Prisoners in 2010 (NCJ 236096).
Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics. Data on race/ethnicity and gender from this
publication should be interpreted as general estimates of the race/ethnicity and gender proportions
within the prison population. BJS is currently employing a revised methodology for estimating
race/ethnicity for these and future years.

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

SLOWING GROWTH IN INCARCERATION
Beginning in the early 1970s the United States embarked on an unprecedented
escalation of the use of imprisonment. The 2.2 million people behind bars in prisons
and jails in 2010 represented more than a 500% increase from the level of 1972. 4
During the highest growth years in the 1980s, state prison populations increased by
as much as 12% in a single year.
Nationally, the rate of prison growth of earlier decades slowed considerably in the
first decade of this century. The total number of individuals in state prisons rose by
an average of 1.1% per year and in federal prisons by an average of 3.3% between
2000 and 2010, 5 compared to 5.6% and 8.6% respectively in the 1990s. 6
The substantial growth of the 1990s is best seen in states such as Texas, in which the
number of persons under state prison jurisdiction tripled, as well as in ten states in
which the population more than doubled (Appendix Table 1). Overall, the median
change in the number of people in state prison systems was 71% for the 1990s. In
contrast, from 2000 to 2010 the median increase declined to 21%, with only three
states experiencing more than a 50% rise in their populations. Further, five states –
Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York – had fewer people in
their prisons at the end of the decade and 47 states experienced at least one year of
decline.
While reduced crime rates are likely to have contributed to these declines, deliberate
changes in policy and practice are also playing a role in these reductions in some
states. 7 These include initiatives such as treatment diversion programs, sentence
reduction incentives for participation in prison programming, enhanced reentry
support, and reduced technical violations of parole.
4

The Sentencing Project. Trends in U.S. corrections. Retrieved from
http://sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/inc
5
Carson, E.A. & Sabol, W.J. (2012). Prisoners in 2011 (NCJ 239808). Washington, DC: Bureau
of Justice Statistics
6
Beck, A.J. & Harrison, P.M. (2001). Prisoners in 2000 (NCJ 188207). Washington, DC: Bureau
of Justice Statistics. Prisoner counts in this report reflect persons under federal or state
jurisdiction.
7
Greene, J. & Mauer, M. (2010). Downscaling prisons: Lessons from four states. Washington,
DC: Justice Strategies and The Sentencing Project.

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

Of particular note are trends of the most recent years in which prison populations at
the state level have essentially stabilized after nearly four decades of increase. As a
result of the fiscal crisis and the requirement in almost all states that the government
maintain a balanced budget, governors of both major parties have been carefully
scrutinizing corrections policies and population options. This is often being done
with a goal of achieving short-term population reductions and consequent cost
savings. 8
In a number of states, for example, executive orders have moved up consideration of
parole release by 60 to 90 days, thereby achieving short-term population reductions.
Other states have enacted changes to parole revocation procedures, with a goal of
reducing the scale of technical violations to prison. In states such as Kansas and
Michigan, this has resulted in substantial reductions in some years, as parole systems
developed graduated sanctions for responding to violations and greater oversight of
decision making.
In states in which substantial reductions have been achieved there has also been a
growing trend of prison closings, the major means by which significant cost savings
may be achieved. During 2011 and 2012, 17 states either closed or considered closing
prison facilities, with a total capacity reduction of more than 28,000 beds. 9
While this trend of population reduction has drawn much attention, it is important
to note that the decline in state prison populations in the past several years is
disproportionately influenced by reductions in the prison population in California.
Between 2009 and 2010, for example, the reduction in California constituted 57% of
the total state prison decline of nearly 11,000 inmates nationally. 10
California is likely to be increasingly influential in the national picture as a result of
recent developments. In the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Plata decision in 2011,
8

Mauer, M. (2010). Sentencing reform amid mass incarcerations: Guarded optimism. Criminal
Justice, 26. American Bar Association.
9
Porter, N. (2012). On the chopping block: State prison closings. Washington, DC: The
Sentencing Project.
10
Guerino, supra 3.

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the court found that overcrowding in the state’s prison system produced
unconstitutional conditions of health care. Its ruling required the state to reduce its
prison population by more than 30,000 persons over two years. In response, the
state adopted “realignment” legislation which took effect in October 2011, and is
largely directed at having lower-level offenders serve their sentences either in local
jails or under local probation supervision. Consequently, it is expected that there will
be continued reductions in the state prison system over the next several years.

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

RACE AND GENDER DISPARITY IN INCARCERATION
As prison populations appear to be stabilizing nationally, and some states are
reducing their populations, it is instructive to explore whether these changes are
reflected in changes in disparities in imprisonment. We begin by looking at overall
changes in imprisonment by race and gender in Figures 1 and 2 below. Overall, the
rate of increase of women continued to outpace that of men, as it has for several
decades. From 2000 to 2009 the number of women incarcerated in state or federal
prisons rose by 21.6%, compared to a 15.6% increase for men.
Looking at the racial/ethnic composition of prison population changes, we see that
the direction of change is similar for both men and women, but much more
pronounced among women. Overall, the numbers of African Americans in prison
declined during this period, while whites and Hispanics experienced increases.
Substantial changes for 2000-2009 can be seen in the rise of 48.4% in the number of
white women incarcerated and the decline of 24.6% among African American
women. Although the number of Hispanic women rose by 75% during this period, the
increase among Hispanics in the general population resulted in a rate increase below
that of white women, as will be seen below.
Figure 1. Number of male inmates, by race, 2000-2009
700,000
600,000

Number

500,000
400,000

White
Black

300,000

Hispanic

200,000
100,000
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Source: BJS Prisoners in 2010

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

Figure 2. Number of female inmates, by race, 2000-2009
60,000

50,000

Number

40,000
White
30,000

Black
Hispanic

20,000

10,000

0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Source: BJS Prisoners in 2010

Rates of incarceration vary notably by state. Imprisonment rates in 2010, for
example, ranged from a high of 867 per 100,000 people in the population in
Louisiana to a low of 148 per 100,000 in Maine. It is also the case that racial
disparities in incarceration vary broadly. A study of incarcerated populations in 2005,
for example, found a range of black/white disparity from a high of 13.6 to 1 to a low
of 1.9 to 1. 11
At the national level, the first decade of the century produced substantial changes in
the racial disparity in incarceration. Although African Americans were still
incarcerated at dramatically higher rates than whites at the end of the decade, the
degree of that differential changed noticeably (Table 1). Between 2000 and 2009, the
incarceration rates for both black men and women declined, while rising for both
white men and women. Hispanic men’s rates declined modestly, while Hispanic
women’s rates rose substantially.
Changes during the decade were most pronounced among women, with black
women experiencing a decline of 30.7% in their rate of incarceration, white women a

11

Mauer & King, supra 1.

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

47.1% rise, and Hispanic women a 23.3% rise. In the following sections we explore
possible explanations for these changes for women in particular.
Table 1. Change in incarceration rates (state and federal prison) by race, ethnicity, and
gender, 2000 to 2009

12

Incarceration rate
(per 100,000)

% change in

Ratio black/Hispanic to

% change in

rate

white rate

ratio

Group

2000

2009

Black men

3,457

3,119

- 9.8%

449

487

+ 8.5%

Hispanic men

1,220

1,193

Black women

205

White women
Hispanic women

White men

2000

2009

7.7:1

6.4:1

-16.9%

-2.2%

2.7:1

2.4:1

-11.1%

142

- 30.7%

6.0:1

2.8:1

- 53.3%

34

50

+ 47.1%

60

74

+23.3%

1.8:1

1.5:1

-16.7%

Source: BJS Prisoners in 2010

12

Beginning in 2004, the Bureau of Justice Statistics changed its racial categorizations, adding a
new category of “two or more races.” That year, 2.9% of respondents identified with that
description. It is likely that many of these individuals previously would have been characterized as
black, and thus, this would account for a portion of the reduction in the black prison population
that year. For the period of 2000-2009 as a whole, though, this change does not substantially affect
the analysis described in this paper. For example, incarceration rates for both black men and
women continued to decline in the two years following that change, as well as for most, though
not all, years in this period.

THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

CHANGING RACIAL COMPOSITION OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION
Women have long represented a modest share of the overall prison population. In
1980, about 13,000 women were incarcerated in federal and state prisons combined
representing 4% of the total prison population. 13 Since that time, the rate of growth
of women in prison has exceeded the rate of increase for men, rising 646% from
1980 to 2010, compared to a 419% increase for men. As a result, in 2010 there were
112,000 women in state and federal prison and 205,000 women overall in prison or
jail; women now constitute 7% of the prison population. 14
As was the case with men, a substantial portion of the overall increase in women in
prison was produced by “get tough” initiatives focused on harsher sentencing
policies and lengthening time served in prison. Women were particularly affected by
the policies of the “war on drugs.” Since women have always represented a small
share of persons committing violent crimes, their numbers in prison would not have
grown as dramatically had it not been for changes in drug enforcement policies and
practices. As law enforcement increased targeting of drug law violators and as
sentences for drug offenses became more severe, drug offenders came to represent a
rapidly growing share of the incarcerated population, with the proportion of women
in prison for drug crimes exceeding that of men. In 1986, 12% of women in state
prison were serving time for a drug offense compared to 8% of men. Over time,
these proportions increased, and as of 2009, 25.7% of women in prison were serving
time for drug offenses, as were 17.2% of men.
In addition, the advent of mandatory sentencing policies for many drug offenses at
times imposed a particularly harsh burden on women offenders, with one aspect of
this sometimes described as the “girlfriend” problem. That is, since the only means
of avoiding a mandatory penalty is generally to cooperate with the prosecution by
providing information on higher-ups in the drug trade, women who have a partner
who is a drug seller may be aiding that seller, but have relatively little information to
trade in exchange for a more lenient sentence. In contrast, the “boyfriend” drug

13
Greenfield, L.A. & Minor-Harper, S. (1991). Women in prison. Washington, DC: Bureau of
Justice Statistics.
14
Guerino, supra 3.

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

seller is likely to be in a better position to offer information, and so may receive less
prison time for his offense than does the less culpable woman.
In addition to the factors influencing the overall rise of women in prison, by the year
2000 a variety of other factors had coalesced to produce severe racial/ethnic
disparities in women’s incarceration rates. These factors included differential
involvement in certain crimes; law enforcement practices, particularly related to the
drug war, targeting black neighborhoods; and, more limited access to treatment and
alternatives to incarceration for low-income women. Thus, in 2000 black women
were incarcerated at a rate six times that of white women, and Hispanic women at a
rate 1.8 times that of white women. 15 Over the next decade, as previously noted,
these dynamics changed in fairly dramatic fashion.
Analyzing Changes in Racial Disparity Among Women in Prison
With the exception of the relatively modest number of women held in federal
prisons (about 12,000 in 2010), changes in women’s national incarceration rates
represent the combined effects of changes in population, crime, and criminal justice
policies and practices among the 50 states. There is not necessarily a single
explanation for the racial/ethnic differences in incarceration rate changes. Rather,
varying combinations of circumstances relating to involvement in crime, criminal
justice responses, and other factors likely affected white, black, and Hispanic women
differently, with those factors varying among states as well. Assessing the relative
contribution of these factors is complicated by the fact that many key data sources
track changes by either race/ethnicity or gender, but not both. Nevertheless,
available data provide a starting point for examining sources of changes in the past
decade.

Changes in Offending
One possible explanation for the relative distinction in changing black and white
rates of women’s incarceration is that black women may have become less likely to
be involved in criminal activity and white women more so. Aside from studies of
self-reported involvement in crime, which are not done on a consistent basis over

15

Ibid

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

time, the best proxy for criminal behavior is arrest data compiled by the FBI and
published in its annual Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). These data have two
limitations for the current purpose. First, the ethnicity of arrestees is not
documented, so all Hispanic arrestees are categorized only by race, with the vast
majority classified as white. This contrasts with the incarceration data used in this
report, in which the Bureau of Justice Statistics treats white, black, and Hispanic as
mutually exclusive categories. Second, UCR data are available by race or gender, but
not both combined.
Changes in total arrest rates show considerable differences by race for the period
2000 - 2009 (Table 2). First, the decline in the rate of arrest for violent crimes for
blacks was twice that of whites (including a share of Hispanics in both categories),
which is particularly noteworthy given that this category of crimes is most likely to
result in a prison term. Second, black arrest rates declined in all three offense
categories (violent crimes, property crimes, and drug offenses), while white arrest
rates declined for violent crimes, but rose for both property and drug offenses
(modestly). Overall, changes in involvement in crime appear to be contributing to
changes in incarceration rates of African Americans overall and it is likely, though
not certain, that this is true for black women as well.
Table 2. Percent change in rates of arrest by race, 2000-2009
Race

Violent

Property

Drugs

White

-11.1%

16.6%

2.2%

Black

-22.2%

-11.5%

-11.8%

Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reports

Prison Populations by Offense
Another means of gleaning insight into the influence of changes in offending on
women’s incarceration rates is to look at changes over time in the offenses for which
women in prison are serving time. We look first at national estimates broken out by
gender and race/ethnicity separately (Table 3), and then at data specific to white,
black, and Hispanic females from a subset of states.

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

Table 3. Percent change in most serious offense of sentenced state prisoners, 2000-2009.
Offense

Total

Male

Female

White

Black

Hispanic

Violent

23.0%

22.2%

40.0%

24.7%

16.6%

34.9%

9.5%

6.5%

44.3%

21.3%

-8.8%

21.1%

-3.5%

-3.6%

-2.8%

26.6%

-15.8%

-4.6%

Property
Drug

Sources: BJS Prisoners in 2001, 16 Prisoners in 2010

Between 2000 and 2009 the proportional increases in women’s incarceration for
violent and property offenses were substantially greater than for men. Given that the
overall number of African Americans incarcerated for a property offense declined
and that the black increase in violent offenses was substantially less than for whites
and Latinos, this suggests that the substantial increase in violent and property
offense incarceration for women was likely influenced primarily by changes among
whites and Hispanics. Conversely, the modest decline in women’s drug offense
incarceration was likely influenced by the substantial overall decline among African
Americans, particularly in contrast to the overall white increase.
This interpretation is further supported by data from a subset of 12 states for which
data on the most serious offenses committed are available for black and white
women. 17 While these states are reasonably diverse geographically and the mix of
offenses for which women are incarcerated is close to the national proportions, we
cannot say to what extent their prison populations are entirely reflective of national
trends.
16

Harrison, P.M. & Beck, A.J. (2002). Prisoners in 2001 (NCJ 195189). Washington, DC: Bureau
of Justice Statistics.
17
The states represented by these data are California, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Mississippi,
New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington. They are
ones for which the Bureau of Justice Statistics has data by gender and race/ethnicity for the years
of 2000 and 2009. These data are not reported by BJS in their Prisoners series because the
methods individual states use to categorize individuals by race/ethnicity are inconsistent across
states and may be based on administrative data rather than self-reported data. To overcome this
limitation, BJS derives and reports only national estimates that have been adjusted to account for
bias in the classification of race/ethnicity in administrative data. Therefore, these figures should
be viewed as providing a general overview of the racial/ethnic composition of these prison
populations, rather than a precise accounting.

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

As seen in Table 4 below, the decline of 1,813 black women in these 12 states is
overwhelmingly a function of reduced drug incarceration (103.3% of the total
change), with changes in the number incarcerated for violent offenses (13.3%
increase) and property offenses (10% decline) accounting for more modest amounts
of the total difference. For white women, almost half of the increase in incarceration
is a function of an increased number of property offenders, with the remainder of
the increase divided between incarceration for violent and drug offenses.
Table 4. Change in most serious offense of female inmates by race in twelve states, 2000-2009
Race

Offense

2000

2009

Difference

% of Total Difference

White

Violent

5,165

6,992

1,827

27.4%

Property

4,571

7,588

3,017

45.2%
27.4%

Black

Drug

4,866

6,697

1,831

TOTAL

14,602

21,277

6,675

Violent

6,332

6,574

242

13.3%

Property

4,570

4,388

-182

-10.0%
-103.3%

Drug

6,387

4,514

-1,873

TOTAL

17,289

15,476

-1,813

Source: BJS National Corrections Reporting Program

In addition to drug offenses, the racial dynamics of women’s incarceration for
property offenses is also quite distinct for white and black women and, again,
parallels the previously reported changes in arrest rates. Note here, though, that
some proportion of property crime is “drug-related”; for example, persons
committing theft in order to obtain money to buy drugs. So, any overall changes in
rates of drug use by race may influence involvement in property crime. It is also
possible that changes in relative rates of property crime commission may be related
to the differential impact of the economic changes of the past decade, by race
and/or geography.
Some observers have suggested that changes in women’s incarceration by race are
driven by increased arrests for prescription drug offenses or changes in the drug of
choice among those who engage in such practices. Because of the rise in the use of

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

methamphetamine, a drug disproportionately used by whites and Latinos, in certain
regions of the country white women may now be more likely to come under criminal
justice supervision. At a national level, there is no breakdown of drug offenders in
prison by the type of drug that they used or sold. But there is some modest, and
mixed, evidence on this at the state level. For example, the Minnesota Department of
Corrections reported that nearly a third of the increase of 3,000 prisoners (male and
female combined) from 2000-2007 was due to a rise in the number of
methamphetamine offenders, although there has been a decline since then. 18 In
Iowa, though, state officials report that legislation restricting the sale of
pseudoephedrine contributed to a decline in meth labs and the number of prison
admissions for related offenses dropping by half from 2005 to 2008. 19
A recent federal case demonstrates how stepped-up methamphetamine enforcement
combined with harsh sentencing policies can contribute to escalating prison
populations for these offenses. Lori Newhouse, a 32-year old Iowa woman with a
lengthy history of substance abuse, was convicted of manufacturing or attempting to
manufacture 5 grams or more of pure methamphetamine in 2012. Federal District
Court Judge Mark Bennett described her as a “pill smurfer” who purchased legal
cold remedies that she supplied to methamphetamine producers in exchange for the
drug. Under federal mandatory minimum penalties she was subject to a 10-year
sentence, but based on two previous drug convictions in 2002 her sentencing
guideline range would be enhanced to 21-27 years due to federal Career Offender
sentencing provisions. The prior convictions arose out of a police raid of her motel
room, following which she pled guilty to two separate charges of possession with
intent to deliver methamphetamine and psilocybin mushrooms. Had the prior cases
been considered as only one offense, Newhouse would not have been subject to the
enhanced penalties. Judge Bennett rejected the Career Offender guidelines based on
a policy disagreement and taking into account Newhouse’s substantial assistance to
prosecutors, imposed the lowest sentence available to him of 8 years in prison, which
he described as “still exceptionally long.” 20
18

Cook, M. (2013). Minnesota’s prison population remains among lowest in U.S. Twin Cities
Daily Planet. January 23.
19
Join Together. (2009). Iowa Meth Legislation Leads to Decline in Prison Population. January
27.
20
U.S. v. Newhouse, No. CR11-3030-MWB (N.D. Iowa Jan. 30, 2013).

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

Even to the extent that methamphetamine or prescription drug offenses may be
contributing to rising numbers of white women in prison, though, this does not
provide insight into why fewer black females are now incarcerated for a drug offense.
In this regard, overall changes in drug sentencing policy in some states may provide
much of the explanation. Because the rate of incarceration of black women in some
states has been so heavily influenced by drug sentencing in the past, any amelioration
of such policies is like to disproportionately benefit African American women.
In New York, for example, which has led the nation in its prison population decline,
the racial dynamics of drug incarceration and decline have been quite stark. First, the
decline of 1,002 women incarcerated for a drug offense from 2000 to 2009 explains
virtually the entire decline of women in prison during that period (with an increase of
property offenders and a slight decrease of violent offenders). 21 In addition, the
entire (99.4%) female drug offender decline was comprised of African American and
Hispanic women, representing a decline of about 70% for each group. Thus, with
such dramatic racial/ethnic disparities in drug incarceration in the state, it was
virtually inevitable that a substantial reduction in overall drug offense incarceration
would result in fewer women of color in prison.

Changing Socioeconomics
While exploring criminal justice data provides an indication of the proximate causes
of the changing racial dynamics of women’s incarceration, recent research on life
expectancy suggests that explanations for these changes may reflect broader
structural socioeconomic shifts. This analysis may be particularly relevant for
understanding the rising number of white females in prison.
Research by the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on an Aging Society
sheds light on the situation of less educated white women in particular. 22 The
Research Network’s analysis explored changes in life expectancy at birth between
21

Data provided by New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision,
February 13, 2013.
22
Olshansky, S.J., et al. (2012). Differences in life expectancy due to race and educational
differences are widening, and many may not catch up. Health Affairs, 31, 1803-1813.

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THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

1990 and 2008 for racial/ethnic/gender groups by level of education. The findings
show that women still have greater life expectancy than men and that white males
and females outlive black males and females at virtually every age range. Although
Hispanics are found to have the highest life expectancy of any group at birth, the
researchers caution that the relative mix of the immigrant and US-born populations
exerts a strong effect on these figures, and is likely to change in coming years as this
mix changes as well.
The influence of educational attainment on life expectancy suggests the most
relevant effects for the purposes of the incarceration changes we have documented.
As the authors note, “Education and its socioeconomic status correlates of income
and wealth have powerful associations with duration of life for both sexes and races,
at all ages.” Changes in this regard have been most profound among whites, and
especially women, whose life expectancy at birth declined by more than five years
from 1990 to 2008 for those with less than a high school education. As a result,
despite advances in health care, this group of white women now has a life expectancy
at birth that is only equivalent to that of all women in the country born in 1964. In
contrast, black women with similar education levels experienced modestly increased
longevity during this period, which now slightly outpaces that of white women in this
group.
The effect of socioeconomic disadvantage on life prospects suggests possible
connections with criminal justice involvement as well. Many of the socioeconomic
factors that contribute to lower life expectancy are also associated with high rates of
criminal behavior and incarceration. These include unhealthy lifestyles (especially
substance abuse and tobacco use), limited access to healthcare, limited ability to cope
with stress or manage chronic illness, poverty, and high levels of unemployment. As
the authors of the study note, education provides beneficial effects “through the
adoption of healthier lifestyles, better ability to cope with stress, and more effective
management of chronic diseases,” as well as increasing access to better-paying jobs
and higher incomes. Other data demonstrate that during this period the share of
working-age adults without a high school diploma who lacked health care coverage

17

THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

rose from 35% in 1993 to 43% in 2006, 23 and that smoking rates for women (both
black and white) who have not completed high school have been rising, even as they
have declined for men at this educational level. Thus, the cumulative social
disadvantage experienced by certain groups, and for less-educated white women in
particular, may contribute to greater likelihood of involvement in substance abuse
and crime.
Although the proportion of the national population without a high school degree
declined from 22% to 12% during this period, it may be that for many of those in
this category, the disadvantages of this status are proving increasingly profound. The
authors argue that “it is now reasonable to conclude that at least two Americas have
formed, with notably different longevity prospects.”

23

Tavernise, S. (2012). Reversing trend, life span shrinks for some whites. The New York Times.
September 21.

THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

CONCLUSION
The trends documented in this report are complex. After decades of steadily rising
incarceration of African Americans, we have now seen a decade during which these
rates have declined modestly for men and substantially for women. While these
developments should not be taken to suggest that the era of mass incarceration of
African Americans has ended by any means, it is nonetheless significant that there
have been changes in this regard.
At the same time, we note that despite several years of modest decline in state prison
populations, the overall rate of incarceration in the United States remains at five
times the rate that prevailed in 1970. In addition, the declining ratio of incarceration
between African American and white women is a function of two trends: fewer
black women in prison, but growing numbers of white women incarcerated. Thus,
the nearly 30-year trend of women’s incarceration increases outpacing that of men
has not abated; rather, the racial dynamics of those changes have shifted.
This report has explored the factors which may be contributing to these trends, but
is clearly just a first step in such an analysis. Changes in the number of African
American women who are incarcerated could be a function of changing involvement
in crime, changes in law enforcement or sentencing practices, socioeconomics, or
some combination of these and other factors. Our examination of the data suggests
that it is likely that reduced numbers of drug incarcerations explains a significant
portion of the trend.
Conversely, the rising number of incarcerated white women may have several causes.
As noted, increased prosecutions of methamphetamine offenses may be a
contributing factor, but broader socioeconomic trends contributing to declining life
expectancy for low-income white women suggest possible underlying conditions that
may contribute to changes in offending rates as well.

THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to better understand these dynamics and to address racial disparities in the
use of incarceration, policymakers should pursue the following options:

24

•

Conduct state-based analyses of changes in disparity – Research over the course of
the past several decades has documented both substantial racial disparity in
incarceration and broad variation in this regard among the states. Given the
trends that we have documented in this report, it would be useful for
policymakers in all states to conduct analyses of these trends and to identify
causal factors of either rising or declining incarceration by race and gender.
Similar analyses focused on analyzing state-specific racial disparities (though
not for women specifically) have been conducted in recent years by scholars
and state-appointed commissions in Minnesota 24 and Wisconsin. 25

•

Establish statewide racial disparity task forces – The state of Connecticut in 2000
established the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparity in the Criminal
Justice System, charged with developing recommendations to eliminate such
disparities. In Illinois, the state legislature established the Illinois
Disproportionate Justice Impact Study Commission in 2009 and charged the
group with analyzing arrest and criminal processing data “in order to guide
the Commission in recommending systemic changes that could mitigate or
eliminate racial disproportionality in sentencing for drug crimes.” 26 Such task
forces have the potential for focusing public and policymaker attention on
the sources of the problem, along with changes in policy and practice that
can ameliorate these outcomes.

•

Adopt proactive racial disparity assessments – Similar to fiscal impact statements,
the goal of projecting the racial effects of proposed sentencing policies is to
anticipate any unwarranted changes in racial disparity that might be produced
through legislative change, and to provide lawmakers with the opportunity to
meet the goals of public safety without exacerbating existing disparities. In

Frase, R. (2012). What factors explain persistent racial disparities in Minnesota prison
populations? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology
2012.
25
Commission on Reducing Racial Disparities in the Wisconsin Justice System. (2008). Final
report.
26
Lyons, T., Lurigio, A., Roque, L., & Rodriguez, P. (2013). Racial disproportionality in the
criminal justice system for drug offenses: a state legislative response to the problem. Race and
Justice. 3:83.

20

THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

2008, the states of Connecticut and Iowa adopted legislation to establish a
process of producing racial impact statements prior to adoption of new
sentencing legislation, and in Minnesota, the Sentencing Guidelines
Commission employs such a process internally. 27
•

Provide technical assistance to aid jurisdictions in addressing disparities – Racial/ethnic
disparities in incarceration result from a combination of factors, which
include the use of discretion and allocation of resources by criminal justice
practitioners. In recent years a number of projects have attempted to engage
practitioners in analyzing and responding to disparities in local law
enforcement or court processing. These have included such efforts as the
Racial Justice Improvement Project of the American Bar Association 28 and
engagement on juvenile justice reform by the Haywood Burns Institute, both
oriented toward engaging practitioners and community leaders in efforts to
reduce unwarranted disparities in the court system. 29

The initiatives proposed above are critical to state policymakers and citizens being
able to identify and respond to the racial/ethnic dynamics of incarceration. This is
also an important moment for such an undertaking, given that there is increasing
momentum for reform of policies that have produced a world record prison system.
With growing understanding of the consequences of these developments for all
communities, continued progress for reform in the next decade may be possible.

27

Mauer, M. (2009). Racial impact statements: Changing policies to address disparities. Criminal
Justice. 23: 4. American Bar Association.
28
Jones, C. (2012). Confronting race in the criminal justice system. Criminal Justice. 27: 2.
American Bar Association.
29
See www.burnsinstitute.org.

21

THE CHANGING RACIAL DYNAMICS OF WOMEN’S INCARCERATION

Appendix Table 1. Number of people under the jurisdiction of state prisons 1990, 2000, 2010
State
AK

a

AL
AR

Number
1990

2000

2010

2,622

4,173

5,285

% Change
199020002000
2010
59.2
26.6

State

Number
1990
2000

2010

MT

1,425

3,105

3,716

% Change
199020002000
2010
117.9
19.7

15,665

26,332

31,764

68.1

20.6

NC

18,411

31,266

40,116

69.8

28.3

6,766

11,915

16,204

76.1

36.0

ND

483

1,076

1,486

122.8

38.1

AZ

14,261

26,510

40,130

85.9

51.4

NE

2,403

3,895

4,587

62.1

17.8

CA

97,309

163,001

165,062

67.5

1.3

NH

1,342

2,257

2,731

68.2

21.0

CO

b

7,671

16,833

22,815

119.4

35.5

NJ

21,128

29,784

25,007

41.0

-16.0

a

10,500

18,355

19,321

74.8

5.3

NM

3,187

5,342

6,659

67.6

24.7

a

3,471

6,921

6,794

99.4

-1.8

NV

5,322

10,063

12,653

89.1

25.7

44,387

71,319

104,306

60.7

46.3

NY

54,895

70,199

56,461

27.9

-19.6

22,345

44,232

49,164

98.0

11.2

OH

31,822

45,833

51,712

44.0

12.8

2,533

5,035

5,891

98.8

17.0

OK

12,285

23,181

26,252

88.7

13.2

IA

3,967

7,955

9,455

100.5

18.9

OR

6,492

10,580

14,014

63.0

32.5

ID

1,961

5,535

7,431

182.3

34.3

PA

22,290

36,847

51,264

65.3

39.1

CT

DE
FL

b

GA
HI

a

a

IL

27,516

45,281

48,418

64.6

6.9

RI

2,392

3,286

3,357

37.4

2.2

IN

12,736

20,125

28,028

58.0

39.3

SC

17,319

21,778

23,578

25.7

8.3

KS

5,777

8,344

9,051

44.4

8.5

SD

1,341

2,616

3,434

95.1

31.3

KY

9,023

14,919

20,544

65.3

37.7

TN

10,388

22,166

27,451

113.4

23.8

LA

18,599

35,207

39,445

89.3

12.0

TX

50,042

166,719

173,649

233.2

4.2

MA

8,273

10,722

11,312

29.6

5.5

UT

2,496

5,637

6,807

125.8

20.8

MD

17,848

23,538

22,645

31.9

-3.8

VA

17,593

30,168

37,410

71.5

24.0

ME

1,523

1,679

2,154

10.2

28.3

VT

a

1,049

1,697

2,079

61.8

22.5

MI

34,267

47,718

44,113

39.3

-7.6

WA

7,995

14,915

18,235

86.6

22.3

3,176

6,238

9,796

96.4

57.0

WI

7,362

20,754

22,724

181.9

9.5

14,943

27,519

30,614

84.2

11.2

WV

1,565

3,856

6,681

146.4

73.3

8,375

20,241

21,645

141.7

6.9

WY

1,110

1,680

2,112

51.4

25.7

71

21

MN
MO
MS

b

Median

Source: BJS National Prisoner Statistics Program
a

Prisons and jails form one integrated system. Data include jail and prison populations

b

Prison population based on custody counts

FURTHER READING AVAILABLE AT www.sentencingproject.org:
Addressing Racial Disparities in Incarceration
Reducing Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System: A Manual for
Practitioners and Policymakers
Sentencing Reform Amid Mass Incarcerations—Guarded Optimism

1705 DeSales Street, NW, 8th floor
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202.628.0871 • Fax: 202.628.1091
www.sentencingproject.org