The Numbers Don’t Speak for Themselves: Racial Disparities and the Persistence of Inequality in the Criminal Justice System

Author: Rebecca C. Hetey and Jennifer L. Eberhardt

Publication/Source: Association for Psychological Science, Volume: 27 issue: 3, pp. 183-187

This study contends and supports that “exposure to extreme (statistical) disparities can cause people to become more, not less, supportive of the very policies that create those disparities.” 

In regard to the criminal justice system, the authors highlight how this holds true when persons are exposed to extreme disparities concerning policing and incarceration especially when the statistics involve race.  In response, the authors present strategies to improve how statistical information on racial disparities is presented. 

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