Los Confines: Data Limitations and Mexican Amercian Prison Entries.

This paper seeks to develop an understanding of Mexican American incarceration including an examination of historical experiences in three selected states: California, New Mexico, and Texas. A caste model of inequality is considered to determine if it is useful in understanding the risk of imprisonment for Mexican Americans. Blalock's (1967) theory regarding ethnic concentration and increased discrimination is also used to allow for systematic analyses of the data. Finally, analyses of the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics study number 3029 (2001) are presented for partial evaluation of the impact of caste, of Blalock's (1967) theory, and to inform suggestions for improved data collection and future research. There was no consistent support for the expectations of overrepresentations of Mexican Americans in California or Texas prisons. Neither was there consistent support for the expectation that Mexican Americans sentenced in counties with high concentrations of Mexican Americans would receive longer sentences than would Anglos. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]