Abstract
This study is a secondary analysis of data collected from the 2006 wave of the General Social Survey that replicates research previously conducted (Wilson & Dunham, 2001) examining the effects of race and class on the opinions and attitudes of middle-and working-class African Americans/Blacks toward four mechanisms of formal crime control. Current findings substantiate the significance of race in explaining opinions of the level of criminal justice spending, the punitiveness of the courts, the scope of the law, and the use of force by law enforcement. In contrast to the original research, the present study did not find class effects or differences between Black Americans in the middle-class and their counterparts in the working-class. The results are evidence of the continued relevance of race in discourse on formal social control. Future research must give attention to the ways in which the connotations and effects of race may materialize in the criminal justice system.