Organizing Reentry: How Racial Colorblindness Structures the Post-imprisonment Terrain

Couloute, Lucius

doi:10.1108/s0733-558x20190000060006

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There is a general belief that discrimination is no longer an issue in prosecution, and most prosecutors are reluctant to consider whether they can play any further role in reducing racial disproportionality in criminal justice. These findings are consistent with prior work that highlighted the acceptance of colorblindness in criminal justice law and policy (Peery, 2011;Williams, 2019) and among other justice professionals such as police and corrections officers (Couloute, 2019;Welsh et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Some police officers reported adopting colorblindness as their “golden rule” (Welsh et al., 2021), and both officers and recruits scored higher on scales measuring colorblind attitudes than laypeople (Hughes et al., 2016). Reentry professionals likewise supported the construction of prisoners’ release as a racially colorblind process (Couloute, 2019). Yet, although legal scholars provide anecdotal evidence that colorblindness is also central to the prosecutorial ethos (e.g., Davis, 1998; Murray, 2012), there is little empirical research on the issue.…”

Section: Colorblindness As a Racial Ideologymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

“No idea whether he's Black, White, or purple”: Colorblindness and cultural scripting in prosecution*

Dunlea

2021

Criminology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Prosecutors maintain immense power over criminal case processing. Yet, they have not historically been a major target for reforms designed to foster equality and reduce racial disparity in criminal justice outcomes. Using in-depth interviews with 47 line prosecutors, this study explores how prosecutors think about race in criminal justice, and what they believe their role should be in addressing racial disparities. Results show that prosecutors broadly embrace a colorblind approach to prosecution and argue that race should be disregarded in case processing. Their support for colorblind prosecution is reinforced by race-neutral cultural scripts that can be linked to the social and operational realities of prosecutors' work environment. These findings suggest that efforts to improve fairness in case processing will be more effective if they are accompanied by widespread prosecutorial culture change. Such efforts may also benefit from the consideration of structural features of the prosecutor's office that currently lead line agents to embrace colorblindness and reject a larger role in alleviating racial disparities.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Colorblindness As a Racial Ideologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“No idea whether he's Black, White, or purple”: Colorblindness and cultural scripting in prosecution*

Dunlea

2021

Criminology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The belief that Latinx individuals made strong frontline workers led to the exclusion of highly experienced and well-educated (Master’s degree and above) Latinx social workers from high-ranking managerial positions. Couloute (2019) highlighted how a colorblind logic within an anti-recidivism program in Connecticut reduced its effectiveness as it did not address racialized barriers limiting individuals’ ability to enter the workforce.…”

Section: Institutional Work Of Racialized Organizationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Racialized organizations, strategies, and structures: a case study

Macaulay,

Keaton

2024

SBM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThis paper explores organization-level racialized work strategies for maintaining racialized organizations (Ray, 2019). It focuses on intentional actions to maintain dominant racial norms, demonstrating how work strategies are informed by dominant racial structures that maintain racial inequities.Design/methodology/approachWe compiled a chronological case study (Yin, 2012) based on 168 news media articles and various organizational documents to examine responses to athlete protests at the University of Texas at Austin following the death of George Floyd. Gioia et al.’s (2013) method uncovered how dominant racial norms inform organizational behaviors.FindingsThe paper challenges institutional theory neutrality and identifies several racialized work strategies that organizations employ to maintain racialized norms and practices. The findings provide a framework for organizations to interrogate their strategies and their role in reproducing dominant racial norms and inequities.Originality/valueIn 2020, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement was reinvigorated within sporting and corporate domains. However, many organizations engaged in performativity, sparking criticism about meaningful change in organizational contexts. Our case study examines how one organization responded to athlete activists’ BLM-fueled demands, revealing specific racialized work strategies that maintain structures of racism. As organizations worldwide disrupt and discuss oppressive structures such as racism, we demonstrate how organizational leadership, while aware of policies and practices of racism, may choose not to act and actively maintain such structures.

show abstract

“Bodies in the Building”: Incarceration’s Afterlife in a Reentry Housing Facility

Purser¹,

Hamlin²

2022

Social Service Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Organizing Reentry: How Racial Colorblindness Structures the Post-imprisonment Terrain

Cited by 4 publications

References 26 publications

“No idea whether he's Black, White, or purple”: Colorblindness and cultural scripting in prosecution*

“No idea whether he's Black, White, or purple”: Colorblindness and cultural scripting in prosecution*

Racialized organizations, strategies, and structures: a case study

“Bodies in the Building”: Incarceration’s Afterlife in a Reentry Housing Facility

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About