Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System: Prevalence, Causes, and a Search for Solutions

Racial disparities in the criminal justice system are well documented and widespread. The present review examines racial disparities in three areas of the system: policing, prison populations, and participation on juries. Some, but not all, of these disparities may be the result of implicit racial bias. Even if the disparities are caused by implicit racial bias, given the number of people involved in the decision making that results in these disparities and the difficulty in training people to overcome implicit bias, interventions designed to eliminate disparities by reducing implicit racial bias may fail. Instead, policies designed to constrain the operation of implicit and/or explicit bias or that eliminate (or at a minimum reduce) problematic outcomes for everyone, regardless of race, may be more effective at reducing racial disparities than are interventions designed to eliminate implicit bias.