Assigning risks and criminalizing poor and non-white: determining risk factors in 24 actuarial tools for the US criminal justice system

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5433/2176-6665.2021v26n3p659

Keywords:

Risk assessment, Actuarial tools, United States, Criminal justice system

Abstract

In the USA, from the 1920s actuarial tools are used in the evaluation of parole applications, to predict or estimate the possible recurrence of applicants. Since then, they have been used to better manage the population under correctional control by calculating the risk of recidivism or failure to appear, based on factors such as criminal history, age, marital status, sex, and behavior, based on criminological theories and machine learning techniques. These tools are based on the forms application and the choice of their questions influences the definition of risk factors. Currently, there are more than 400 tools in use in the distinct stages of the US Criminal Justice System, across state, national and county jurisdictions, after increasing criticism of bail system and the biases of criminal justice operators. This article analyzes forms from 24 tools used by U.S. jurisdictions. The main results are that the tools have focused on a specific type of suspect – poor and black people – since their conception, even though companies and government agencies argue that they are neutral and objective.

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Author Biography

Iara Cunha Passos, Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná - UTP

Master in Sociology from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Postgraduate student in Criminal Law and Criminology at the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Policy at Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná.

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Published

2021-12-30

How to Cite

PASSOS, I. C. Assigning risks and criminalizing poor and non-white: determining risk factors in 24 actuarial tools for the US criminal justice system. Mediações - Revista de Ciências Sociais, Londrina, v. 26, n. 3, p. 659–678, 2021. DOI: 10.5433/2176-6665.2021v26n3p659. Disponível em: https://ojs.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/mediacoes/article/view/42943. Acesso em: 14 may. 2024.

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