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Chad Malone Dissertation (7-14-15).pdf (6.94 MB)

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Behind the Drug Wars: Determinants and Consequences of State Crack and Powder Cocaine Laws, 1976 – 2011

Malone, Chad Allen
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3480-2701
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1436974322

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Sociology.
This dissertation explores the social, political, and economic factors that influence the severity of U.S. state-level crack/powder cocaine drug laws and prison admission rates over time. To the best of my knowledge, this empirical assessment of the determinants of changes in state-level drug law strength from 1977 to 2010 is the first of its kind. Furthermore, a review of the literature reveals that the subsequent use of such a wide-ranging drug law strength indicator to predict changes in state-level prison admission rates from 1978 to 2011 also is unparalleled. Estimates from two-way fixed-effects pooled cross-sectional models suggest that percent black, the presence of a Republican governor, real median household income (i.e., the tax base), and violent crime rates are positively associated with state drug law strength and prison admission rates. State drug law strength also is a positive predictor of state prison admission rates, but only for states in the South and ex-Confederate states. And contrary to claims often made in the literature, I find that the effects of state drug law strength on state prison admission rates are best characterized as unremarkable to moderate. This is especially the case when these effects are considered alongside those of other relevant explanatory variables.
Ryan King (Committee Chair)
Andrew Martin (Committee Member)
Paul Bellair (Committee Member)
185 p.
Criminology; Law; Social Research; Social Structure; Sociology
crack; powder; cocaine; drugs; drug laws; imprisonments; imprisonment rate; partisan politics; gendered politics; racial threat; black threat; economic threat; violent crime; violent crime rate; drug law strength; prison admission

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Malone, C. A. (2015). Behind the Drug Wars: Determinants and Consequences of State Crack and Powder Cocaine Laws, 1976 – 2011 [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1436974322

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Malone, Chad. Behind the Drug Wars: Determinants and Consequences of State Crack and Powder Cocaine Laws, 1976 – 2011. 2015. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1436974322.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Malone, Chad. "Behind the Drug Wars: Determinants and Consequences of State Crack and Powder Cocaine Laws, 1976 – 2011." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1436974322

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2015, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.