Arresting Confidence: Mass Incarceration and Black–White Differences in Perceptions of Legal Authorities

Abstract

Objective This article investigates changes in confidence in legal authorities associated with mass incarceration. Methods Binary logistic regression models are used to analyze five waves of data from a national survey of U.S. adults collected between 1981 and 2011 (n = 8,548). Predicted probabilities and discrete change coefficients are calculated to examine changes in blacks’ and whites’ attitudes about police and courts associated with changes in the incarceration rate. Results As the incarceration rate grew, blacks’ confidence in police declined substantially, while whites’ was unchanged. Blacks and whites each lost confidence in courts as incarceration increased. However, the loss was significantly greater among blacks than whites. Conclusions The growing incarceration rate was accompanied by distinctive shifts in blacks’ and whites’ confidence in legal authorities. This article underscores the importance of macro legal contexts for understanding race differences in legal confidence.