ABSTRACT
The relationship between race, conventional or street crime, and the criminal justice system in the United States has been studied for many years. 1 Research studies reported that Blacks were more likely than Whites to commit conventional crimes. The arrest ratios by race (Black/White) were particularly significant for the violent crimes of murder (8:1), forcible rape (5:1), robbery (10:1), and aggravated assault (4:1) (U.S. Department of Justice, 1997a). Official data indicated the incarceration rate per 100,000 adults in 1996 was 289 for Whites and 1860 for Blacks (Kennedy, 1997). The chance of a Black male going to prison during his lifetime was greater than one in four (29 percent), while a White male only had a one in twenty-three (4 percent) chance of being incarcerated. The Black/White ratio for women serving prison time was roughly the same. Black women were seven times more likely than White females to be incarcerated sometime during their lives (U.S. Department of Justice, 1997b).
