Citation

Creighton MJ, Wozniak KH. Soc. Probl. 2019; 66(4): 485-502.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Society for the Study of Social Problems, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/socpro/spy017

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The disproportionate incarceration of certain groups, racial minorities, and the less educated constitutes a social problem from the perspective of both policy makers and researchers. One aspect that is poorly understood is whether the public is similarly concerned about inequities in mass incarceration. Using a list experiment embedded in a framing experiment, we test for differences in attitudes towards mass incarceration by exploring three frames: race, education, and the United States in global context. We test whether social desirability bias causes people to over-state their concern about mass incarceration when directly queried. We find that mass incarceration is seen as a problem in the United States, whether the issue is framed by race, education, or as a global outlier. The list experiment reveals that public concern about mass incarceration is not quite as great as overtly-expressed opinion would suggest, and the framing experiment indicates that race-neutral frames evoke greater concern about mass incarceration than an emphasis on racial disparities.

mass incarceration, racism, experimental design, social desirability bias, inequality

Language: en