The Association Between Perceptions Of Black Incarceration...

The Association between Perceptions of Black Incarceration Rate and Attribution ____________________________________ A Thesis Proposal Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Fullerton _____________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Psychology _____________________________________ By Approved by: ____________________________________ ________________________ , Committee Chair Date Department of Psychology ____________________________________ ________________________ , Committee Member Date Department of Psychology ____________________________________ ________________________ , Committee Member Date Department of Psychology†¦show more content†¦Incarceration disparity has exhibited a plethora of collateral effects which recent research indicates has led to an alarming increase in broken homes and disenfranchised communities (Dyer, 2005). These collateral effects are directly experienced by offenders, their families, and their children. These effects are persistent and pervasive and can include personal, social, financial, emotional, psychological, and physical concerns such as stigma, family disruption, financial burden and negative psychological impact on children (Crime Council on Justice, 2006). Social and economic structures of communities are affected as well, especially in areas where many residents are continually entering and exiting the criminal justice system. Concentrated crime and imprisonment, within communities, diminishes human capital (individual skills, knowledge), physical capital (infrastructures, material improvements), and social capital (social good embodied in relations) (Watts Nightingale, 1996; Hagan Dinovitzer, 1999; Clear, Rose, Waring Scully, 2003). The aforementioned effects of imprisonment signal crisis and are the harbingers of a crippled community; which adds another lambasting blow to Communities of color that research has identified as the hardest hit by incarceration (Watts Nightingale, 1996; Clear, Rose Ryder, 2001). Although there is, at present, a great body of literature on the theories and empirical studies that