U.S. criminal justice policies have created the uniquely American style of carceral punishment. Since 1973, America has seen a sustained and substantial rise in its incarceration population and the manifestation of mass incarceration. Currently, the U.S. imprisons 2.23 million people, which amounts to 23% of the world’s total incarcerated population. Support for more punitive policies came from Whites and Black residents, politicians, and community. I maintain that the carceral predation has a political spillover effect of reducing Black political power by adversely affecting the political socialization process and development of efficacy. I hypothesize that carceral contact directly affects the political behavior of those personally contacted and those with network contact, and this effect is greater for African Americans than for Whites. I posit that carceral contact negatively impacts political trust, and that individuals can rationally assign the distrust to a specific level of governance. This effect should also be larger for Blacks. Thirdly, I theorize that carceral contact negatively affects not only the social and cultural aspects of political efficacy, but also the psychological components of political efficacy. I hypothesize that carceral contact and predacious political environments have an adverse impact on the development of self-esteem, happiness, and calmness. In the following chapters I will attempt to aid in the development of a theory of minority participation through the theoretical development of the concept of predation, presenting a new Black voting calculus, and empirically testing how carceral contact affects participation via political socialization and efficacy.