Abstract
Racial threat theory was developed as a way to explain how population composition influences discriminatory social control practices and has become one of the most acknowledged frameworks for explaining racial disparity in criminal justice outcomes. This paper provides a thorough review of racial threat theory and empirical assessments of the theory and demonstrates that while scholars often cite inconsistent support for the theory, empirical discrepancies may be due to insufficient attention to the conceptual complexity of racial threat. I organize and present the following review around 4 forms of state-sanctioned control mechanisms: police expenditures, arrests, sentencing, and capital punishment. Arguing that the pervasiveness of racialization in state controls warrants continued inquiry, I provide suggestions for future scholarship that will help us develop enhanced understanding of how racial threat may be operating.
Highlights
Racial-ethnic inequality in the criminal justice system is well-documented and has gained widespread attention in the sociological, criminological, and legal literature
Racial threat effects may be diffused when the social control mechanism is less influenced by direct public influence
Research works on criminal justice expenditures and capital punishment decisions seem largely supportive of Blalock’s [1] fundamental theoretical model, which largely emphasizes minority population size as an indicator of threat
Summary
Racial-ethnic inequality in the criminal justice system is well-documented and has gained widespread attention in the sociological, criminological, and legal literature. Relying on a racebased conflict approach in explaining social control practices, Blalock [1] views social organization as being rooted in racialized competition whereby race and ethnic groups are in constant struggles over valued resources. This paper begins by providing a review of racial threat theory and the literature examining this theory. By examining the literature by social control form, it is suggested that patterned theoretical support may be associated with how publically transparent the form of social control is. Racial threat effects may be diffused when the social control mechanism is less influenced by direct public influence. I conclude by suggesting ways in which future research can further explicate the ways racial threat operates to deny minorities from acquiring equal access to resources and opportunities
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