Racial disproportionality in state prison admissions: Can regional variation be explained by differential arrest rates?

Recent studies have found that states in the Midwest incarcerate Blacks at a higher rate than those in the South. This article examines the extent to which this regional pattern of racial disproportionality in incarceration rates could be explained by controlling for race-specific arrest rates. The findings showed that the level of racial disproportionality in imprisonment decreased among all of the regions after controlling for race-specific arrest rates, but previously observed regional differences remained. These findings indicate that differences in the level of racial disproportionality in incarceration rates among regions were due to differential involvement in serious crimes by race resulting from a higher concentration of Blacks in urban areas relative to Whites in the Midwest.