RETRACTED: LYNCHINGS, RACIAL THREAT, AND WHITES’ PUNITIVE VIEWS TOWARD BLACKS

• Date: 01 August 2018
• Author: DANIEL P. MEARS,ERIC P. BAUMER,ASHLEY N. ARNIO,ERIC A. STEWART,PATRICIA Y. WARREN
• Published date: 01 August 2018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12176

RETRACTED

LYNCHINGS, RACIAL THREAT, AND WHITES’

PUNITIVE VIEWS TOWARD BLACKS∗

ERIC A. STEWART,1DANIEL P. MEARS,1

PATRICIA Y. WARREN,1ERIC P. BAUMER,2

and ASHLEY N. ARNIO3

1College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University

2Department of Sociology and Criminology, Pennsylvania State University

3School of Criminal Justice, Texas State University

KEYWORDS: lynchings, racial threat, punitive sentiment, perceived criminality

Disparities in historical and contemporary punishment of Blacks have been well

documented. Racial threat has been proffered as a theoretical explanation for this phe-

nomenon. In an effort to understand the factors that influence punishment and racial

divides in America, we draw on racial threat theory and prior scholarship to test three

hypotheses. First, Black punitive sentiment among Whites will be greater among those

who reside in areas where lynching was more common. Second, heightened Black

punitive sentiment among Whites in areas with more pronounced legacies of lynch-

ing will be partially mediated by Whites’ perceptions of Blacks’ criminality and of

Black-on-White violence in these areas. Third, the impact of lynching on Black puni-

tive sentiment will be amplified by Whites’ perceptions of Blacks as criminals and as

threatening more generally. We find partial support for these hypotheses. The results

indicate that lynchings are associated with punitive sentiment toward Black offenders,

and these relationships are partially mediated by perceptions of Blacks as criminals

and as threats to Whites. In addition, the effects of lynchings on Black punitiveness are

amplified among White respondents who view Blacks as a threat to Whites. These re-

sults highlight the salience of historical context for understanding contemporary views

about punishment.

The “punitive turn” that gave rise to mass incarceration has been argued to have mag-

nified racial disparities in punishment (Clear and Frost, 2013; Garland, 2001; Gottschalk,

2016; Mears and Cochran, 2015; Spohn, 2013; Travis, 2005). Scholars thus have called for

efforts to understand better the factors that shape views about punishment and how race

may influence them (Alexander, 2012; Baumer, 2013; Garland, 2013; Pettit and Western,

2004; Tonry, 2012; Unnever, 2014; Wacquant, 2001). One line of inquiry, which draws on

racial threat theory (Blalock, 1967; Jackson, 1989; Liska, 1992; Stults and Baumer, 2007),

suggests that Whites’ views about Blacks may play a role in shaping punitive sentiment.

∗The authors thank Stewart Tolnay, E. M. Beck, and Amy Bailey for sharing updated data on south-

ern lynchings. This manuscript has benefited from the advice of David McDowall and anonymous

reviewers.

Direct correspondence to Eric A. Stewart, PhD, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice,

Florida State University, 112 South Copeland Street, Eppes Hall, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1273

(e-mail: estewart2@fsu.edu).

C2018 American Society of Criminology doi: 10.1111/1745-9125.12176

CRIMINOLOGY Volume 56 Number 3 455–480 2018 455

RETRACTED

456 STEWART ET AL.

For example, Whites may be more likely to view Blacks not only as a threat to White

hegemony but also as a criminal threat to society and to Whites in particular (Behrens,

Uggen, and Manza, 2003; Blalock, 1967; Blauner, 1972; Chiricos, Welch, and Gertz, 2004;

Liska, 1992; Mancini et al., 2015; Mears et al., 2013; Pickett et al., 2012).

This line of inquiry has been extended in recent scholarship on the legacy of lynch-

ings to investigate the salience of historical context for shaping racial divides in America.

The findings from an emerging body of research reveal that past lynchings are associ-

ated with contemporary racial disparities in crime, punishment, and social policies (e.g.,

DeFina and Hannon, 2011; Durso and Jacobs, 2013; Jacobs, Carmichael, and Kent, 2005;

Jacobs, Malone, and Iles, 2012; King, Messner, and Baller, 2009; Messner, Baumer, and

Rosenfeld, 2006; Porter, 2011; Porter, Howell, and Hempel, 2014). In this work, we also

draw on racial threat theory in arguing that the observed associations stem from contem-

porary Whites’ views of Blacks as criminals, as posing a criminal threat to Whites, and as

warranting greater punishment. Nevertheless, there are no direct tests of the implied the-

oretical mechanisms or, in turn, of an interactional model in which the effects of lynchings

on Whites’ punitive sentiment may be amplified by views of Blacks as criminal threats.

We seek to contribute to scholarship aimed at testing racial threat theory and advanc-

ing understanding of the factors that give rise to punitive sanctioning, racial disparities in

punishment, and in turn, racial divides in contemporary America. More specifically, we

seek to understand Whites’ views about punishment of Black criminals and the salience

of historical context—the legacy of lynchings in particular—for shaping these views. By

drawing on prior theory and research, we test three hypotheses. First, support for pun-

ishing Black criminals, and for punishing Black criminals more so than otherwise similar

White criminals, will be greater among Whites who reside in areas with higher histori-

cal rates of lynchings. Second, this effect will be partially mediated by perceived Black

criminal threat and by perceived threat of Black-on-White violence. Third, the effect of

residing in areas with higher rates of lynching will be amplified by both forms of threat. In

this article, we discuss prior research and the theoretical basis for these hypotheses. We

then describe the data, method, and findings, and we conclude by discussing implications

of the results for theory and research.

BACKGROUND

THE PUNITIVE TURN AND RACIAL DISPARITIES IN PUNISHMENT

In recent decades, American criminal justice increasingly transformed into a sys-

tem that prioritizes retribution and get-tough approaches to crime control (Tonry and

Nagin, 2017; Welsh and Pfeffer, 2013). As Garland (2001: 10) has written, “official poli-

cies regulating crime and punishment always invoke and express a range of collective sen-

timents,” but since the 1970s, “the background affect of policy is now more frequently a

collective anger and a righteous demand for retribution.” This punitive turn entailed, and

can be seen in, a panoply of changes. These include reduced funding for rehabilitation,

greater investment in tougher sentencing laws, longer prison sentences, “invisible pun-

ishments” (e.g., restrictions on where felons can live or work or whether they can vote),

and not least, the emergence of what scholars have referred to as the “era of mass incar-

ceration” (Clear and Frost, 2013; Gottschalk, 2016; Mears and Cochran, 2015; Petersilia,

2003; Travis, 2005). The tenor of this shift reflected populist sensibilities. These included