Collective Outbursts, Politics, and Punitive Resources: Toward a Political Sociology of Spending on Social Control

Jacobs, David; Helms, Ronald

doi:10.1093/sf/77.4.1497

Cited by 83 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The only national-level research to focus exclusively on corrections expenditures is a recent study by Jacobs and Helms (1999), who examined per capita funding for corrections (federal, state and local combined) from 1954 to 1990. They reported that spending increased with the size of the nonwhite population, number of riots, crime rates, and previous (lagged 20 years) births out of wedlock.…”

Section: Extant Research On Corrections Spendingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, studies of corrections spending at the national level (Caldeira 1983;Caldeira and Cowart 1980;Jacobs and Helms 1999) and studies of state level imprisonment trends both emphasize the importance of Republican power (e.g. Jacobs and Carmichael 2001;Helms 1996, 1999;Beckett 1997;Stucky, et al 2005).…”

Section: Partisan Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some research reveals a positive relationship between the size of African American populations and punishment (Beckett and Western 2001;Greenberg and West 2001;Jacobs and Carmichael 2001;Jacobs and Helms 1999;Taggart and Winn 1991), whereas other research suggests the relationship is non-linear (e.g. Jackson and Carroll 1981;Jacobs, Carmichael, and Kent 2005;Liska 1992 Despite the intuitive appeal of thinking that corrections expenditures naturally increase in response to increases in crime, the link may not be automatic.…”

Section: Economic and Racial Threatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although early research on punishment focused primarily on economic explanations (see Chiricos and Delone 1992 for a review), more recent research has focused on political explanations, generally focusing on prison populations rather than corrections expenditures. Yet as Jacobs and Helms (1999) argue, corrections expenditures are under more direct political control than the dependent measures typically used in punishment research -admissions and custody rates. Indeed, Caldeira and Cowart (1980:422) argue that the budget is "one of the most important mechanisms through which governments can seek to achieve policy goals of all sorts."…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One exception is a recent national-level study by Jacobs and Helms (1999) which examines the factors affecting variation in corrections expenditures from 1954 to 1990.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Bigger Piece of the Pie? State Corrections Spending and the Politics of Social Order

Stucky

Heimer

Lang

2007

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency

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The dramatic increase in American state prison populations over the last three decades has sparked considerable research interest. Empirical research has most often examined changes in prison admissions or populations. Few studies, however, have considered another important indicator of punishment-shifts over time in state corrections budgets. This study examines variation in annual, state-level corrections expenditures as a proportion of state total expenditures from 1980 to 1998. We draw together existing theoretical arguments about criminal punishment under a common rubric that we call a "politics of social order perspective" which focuses on state responsibility for the maintenance of social order and the need for state officials to maintain office through popular election. From this view, partisan politics, economic and racial threat, citizen preferences, fiscal considerations, policy priorities, and crime are important explanations of corrections spending because they affect strategies for maintaining social order, garnering votes and maintaining political office. Our findings generally support this perspective. Specifically, partisan politics, racial threat, state economic prosperity, and budgetary priorities all play a role in determining the proportion of state expenditures devoted to corrections over time.

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Section: Extant Research On Corrections Spendingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Partisan Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Economic and Racial Threatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One exception is a recent national-level study by Jacobs and Helms (1999) which examines the factors affecting variation in corrections expenditures from 1954 to 1990.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Bigger Piece of the Pie? State Corrections Spending and the Politics of Social Order

Stucky

Heimer

Lang

2007

Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency

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Race, Ethnicity, and Crime

Pate¹

2014

The Encyclopedia of Theoretical Criminology

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Considerations of race and ethnicity are among the oldest etiological domains for criminological theory. As a systematic proposition, early scholars began by attempting to physically describe criminals. Over time, this approach grew beyond the confines of criminology and into economic, cultural, and political dimensions as well. More modern analyses of race and ethnicity as an aspect of criminal behavior have tended to focus on environmental and social correlates of crime rather than mere physiognomy.

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Racial and Ethnic Threat

Stults¹,

Swagar²

2018

The Handbook of Race, Ethnicity, Crime, and Justice

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Collective Outbursts, Politics, and Punitive Resources: Toward a Political Sociology of Spending on Social Control

Cited by 83 publications

References 36 publications

A Bigger Piece of the Pie? State Corrections Spending and the Politics of Social Order

A Bigger Piece of the Pie? State Corrections Spending and the Politics of Social Order

Race, Ethnicity, and Crime

Racial and Ethnic Threat

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