Race and Criminal Justice History: Rhetoric, Politics, and Policy

Race and Criminal Justice History: Rhetoric, Politics, and Policy helps students understand the complicated connection between the criminal justice system and the politics of race in America. Through socio-legal, socio-psychological and socio-historical analysis of racism and the history of American political rhetoric on crime, the text provides a foundation for understanding how African Americans are perceived in modern society and how long-standing negative perceptions have influenced their interactions with the criminal justice system.

The text begins with a discussion on how criminal justice policy and perceptions of criminality are related to African American disproportionate incarceration. Through a socio-psychological lens, it explains how African Americans are stereotyped as criminals, as well as how the biological, sociological, and psychological science of racial bias, prejudice, and racism can influence police interactions.

Later chapters provide a detailed and in-depth review of how antebellum and postbellum politics defending states’ rights, the adoption of Jim Crow by the Supreme Court, presidential level political rhetoric regarding Black inferiority, criminality and segregation, as well as the use of the criminal justice system as means of social control of former slaves, all form the context for understanding the development of the modern criminal justice policies implemented during the presidencies of Johnson through Trump.

Thorough in historical and psychological analysis, and timely in light of current social and political events, Race and Criminal Justice History is an ideal text for criminal justice, sociology, psychology, social work, political science, public administration, public policy, and race and ethnic studies courses.

Arthur H. Garrison, LP.D., is an associate professor of criminal justice at Kutztown University, specializing in criminal justice history, race and policing, constitutional law, legal history, and national security. He received his doctorate in law and policy from Northeastern University and his master’s in criminal justice from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. His scholarship includes numerous articles on race and criminal justice, as well as publications on police civil liability, criminal justice policy making, national security and terrorism, constitutional law, and the history of presidential power in times of national crisis.