Socioeconomic Status and Perceptions of Personal Arrest Probabilities

This article examines the relationship between individual's perceptions of arrest probabilities and socioeconomic status. Although actual arrest probabilities are generally thought to vary inversely with socioeconomic status, no theories predict how this should translate into patterns in perceived sanction risks. Variables that would influence socioeconomic patterns in risk assessment are identified and related to estimates of arrest probabilities. Survey data from a three‐state sample of adults show that lower‐status respondents perceive higher arrest risks than do upper‐status respondents. However, none of these differences can be explained by the theoretically relevant variables available in these data.