2009/06/01 by Sanford F. Schram, Joe Soss, Richard C. Fording +1 · 73 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Criminology #Discipline #Economics #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Gender studies #Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics #Law #Political science #Poverty #Psychology #Public economics #Punishment (psychology) #Race (biology) #Sanctions #Social Welfare #Social psychology #Sociology #Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies #Welfare #Welfare reform #White (mutation)
paper · doi:10.1177/000312240907400304
published in American Sociological Review 74(3), 398-422 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2009/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Welfare sanctions are financial penalties applied to individuals who fail to comply with welfare program rules. Their widespread use reflects a turn toward disciplinary approaches to poverty management. In this article, we investigate how implicit racial biases and discrediting social markers interact to shape officials' decisions to impose sanctions. We present experimental evidence based on hypothetical vignettes that case managers are more likely to recommend sanctions for Latina and black clients—but not white clients—when discrediting markers are present. We triangulate these findings with analyses of state administrative data. Our results for Latinas are mixed, but we find consistent evidence that the probability of a sanction rises significantly when a discrediting marker (i.e., a prior sanction for noncompliance) is attached to a black rather than a white welfare client. Overall, our study clarifies how racial minorities, especially African Americans, are more likely to be punished for deviant behavior in the new world of disciplinary welfare provision.