Race and Revocation: Is There a Penalty for Young, Minority Males?

To date, no published research has examined the role played by race and ethnicity in revocation decision-making, despite the fact that revocation of community supervision is a source of substantial admissions to prison. Using a large cohort of subjects sentenced to felony probation in a large south central state, we conduct main and indirect effects analyses to test the hypothesis that odds of revocation will be highest for those offenders who are young, male, black or Hispanic, and unemployed. Results coincide with outcomes of recent studies that focus on the interaction of race, age and gender: That harsher penalties attach to individuals who are young, male, and black. In most analyses, Hispanics fared no differently than whites. A further finding is the discounted value of employment for young black males, who received harsher treatment than unemployed white counterparts. The article identifies several directions for investigation of the low value assigned to employment by this group of offenders.