Achieving Racial Equity and Improving Culture in Jails Using a Community-Engaged Quality Improvement Process
The following is an excerpt from a blog originally posted on the Safety and Justice Challenge site. Funded by the MacArthur Foundation, the Safety and Justice Challenge helps jurisdictions across the U.S. implement data-informed strategies that reduce the misuse and overuse of jails and racial and ethnic disparities present across the criminal legal system. The CUNY Institute for State & Local Governance provides data and analytic oversight for the project, as well as manages its Research Consortium.
Jails are racialized organizations. Many jails have racialized subcultures, where residents of non-White racial backgrounds face increased segregation, tensions, or violence; limited employment opportunities; and social stigma. Racial disparities in incarceration exacerbate vulnerability to violence, sexual abuse, solitary confinement, and inadequate healthcare. Carceral environments such as jail often manifest racial divisions, with staff frequently exhibiting racial antagonisms, either individually or collectively.
As part of its efforts to lower jail populations across America and address racial disparities in the criminal justice system, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge recently funded a project examining racial disparities within a county jail. The resulting report presents an approach that can build greater racial equity within jail settings.