Posted: March 10th, 2023

Moorpark College Sociology Levels of Imprisonment Question

Sociology 156 Homework Assignment #7General Instructions: Complete the reading listed on the syllabus under Week 9. Write notes in
the margins of the readings or on a separate sheet of paper. Then answer the following questions
in full sentences. Your answers should be about a paragraph long. Include page numbers in your
responses so that you can refer back to the reading during the discussion. You can include direct
quotes from the reading in your answers, but then also should explain them in your own words.
You are encouraged to discuss the reading with other students but the answers on the assignment
must be your own. (You are also not allowed to copy answers from outside sources, like
Wikipedia).
Save your answers as a .docx or .pdf file. Put your name and the assignment name at the
top, then put the answers to each question (numbered). Do not include the instructions or the
questions themselves in your submission. Submit your assignment by Wednesday, March 2 at 12
PM, using the link on the course website.
Questions for Alexander’s (2012) The New Jim Crow, pp. 1-58 and 97-139:
1. How does Alexander (2012) define the term mass incarceration? How does she define
the term racial caste?
2. How is mass incarceration a racial caste system? (Hint: Think about the ways in which it
is similar to the Jim Crow system).
3. How did the Jim Crow system end? According to Alexander (2012), how did the death of
the Jim Crow system set the stage for the growth of mass incarceration?
4. According to Alexander (2012), how was racism linked to the start of the War on Drugs,
and the creation of tough-on-crime policies more generally? Which politicians promoted
these policies? (Hint: This question overlaps some with question 2, but focus here on the
historical sequence of events).
5. How do levels of imprisonment for drug crimes differ for whites, blacks, and Latinos?
How does this compare to the levels of drug use amongst different racial groups?
6. What is Alexander’s (2012) overall explanation for racial disparities in incarceration?
[Hint: there are two stages.]
7. How does police discretion (especially for drug-related crimes) lead to racial
discrimination in who gets stopped and arrested? What is some of the evidence
Alexander (2012) presents to support this claim?
8. What are some of the ways that the Supreme Court “closed the courthouse door” to
challenges against racial bias in the criminal justice system (Alexander 2012, p. 139)? In
your answer, refer to some of the specific court cases she described.