Racial, Ethnic, and Immigrant Threat

• Date: 01 February 2015
• Author: Sonja E. Siennick,Ben Feldmeyer,Patricia Y. Warren,Malisa Neptune
• DOI: 10.1177/0022427814548488
• Published date: 01 February 2015
• Subject Matter: Article

Article

Racial, Ethnic, and

Immigrant Threat:

Is There a New

Criminal Threat on

State Sentencing?

Ben Feldmeyer

1

, Patricia Y. Warren

2

,

Sonja E. Siennick

2

, and Malisa Neptune

2

Abstract

Objectives: The racial threat perspective argues that racial minorities are

subjected to greater punishment in places with large or growing minority

populations. However, prior research has focused largely on Black popu-

lations while devoting limited attention to potential ‘‘Latino threat’’ or

‘‘immigrant threat’’ effects. To address these gaps, this study explores the

effects of racial, ethnic, and immigrant threat on sentence disposition (jail,

prison, or community corrections) and sentence length. Methods: Using

2000 through 2006 data from the Florida Department of Corrections

Guideline database, we use multilevel modeling techniques to explore the

effects of racial, ethnic, and immigrant threat on state criminal sentencing.

Results: The results provide support for racial/ethnic threat theory among

Black but not Latino defendants. Black defendants are more likely to be sen-

tenced to prison and are given longer sentences in counties with growing

1

School of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

2

College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Ben Feldmeyer, School of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati, 665 Dyer Hall, Clifton

Avenue, PO Box 210389, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.

Email: ben.feldmeyer@uc.edu

Journal of Research in Crime and

Delinquency

2015, Vol. 52(1) 62-92

ªThe Author(s) 2014

Reprints and permission:

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DOI: 10.1177/0022427814548488

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Black populations. In contrast, Latino sentences are not significantly influ-

enced by Latino population growth. Results provide no support for immi-

grant threat positions. Conclusions: Overall, our findings offer a complex

picture for racial/ethnic and immigrant threat. However, one pattern

remains clear. Within Florida courts, Black defendants continue to be the

prime targets for effects of racial threat and resulting disadvantages in

criminal sentencing.

Keywords

race/ethnicity, sentencing, racial threat, immigration, immigrant threat

There is growing interest in the way racial and ethnic disparities in senten-

cing may be shaped by the larger community context. Drawing from racial

threat theory, a particularly salient concern is whether minority defendants

receive more severe punishments in places where they represent a larger

or growing share of the population because of their potential threat to

White positions of power (Blalock 1967). In recent years, this theoretical

approach has received substantial research attention, with some studies

finding that places with larger Black populations subject Blacks to harsher

social controls, such as increased arrest and incarceration, sentence

lengths, executions, and restrictions on voting rights (Eitle, D’Alessio,

and Stolzenberg 2002; Jacobs, Carmichael, and Kent 2005; Manza and

Uggen 2006; Stolzenberg, D’Alessio, and Eitle 2004; Ulmer and Johnson

2004). However, despite increased interest in racial threat theory, the

extant evidence on its role in sentencing and punishment is incomplete,

and findings are quite mixed. For nearly every study that finds strong sup-

port for the theory, there is another that finds mixed evidence (Ulmer and

Johnson 2004; Wang and Mears 2010a, 2010b) and others that either fail

to support or contradict its claims (Feldmeyer and Ulmer 2011; Ousey and

Lee 2008; Parker, Stults, and Rice 2005).

In addition, prior tests of racial threat theory have overwhelmingly

focused on Black–White comparisons while overlooking other sizable

racial/ethnic minorities like Latinos (for noteworthy exceptions see Britt

2000; Feldmeyer and Ulmer 2011; Johnson 2003; Wang and Mears

2010a, 2010b). The limited attention devoted to Latinos is troubling,

given that they are the largest and one of the fastest growing ethnic popu-

lations in the United States, which may make them a particularly visible

source of threat (Dixon and Rosenbaum 2004; Steffensmeier and Demuth

2000). There has also been limited research devoted to understandinghow

Feldmeyer et al. 63