Demuth, S., & Steffensmeier, D. (2000). Ethnicity and Sentencing Outcomes in U.S. Federal Courts: Who is Punished More Harshly? American Sociological Review, 65(5), 705-729.
This particular study looked at the relationship between inequality and criminal punishment. Their research led them to develop three hypotheses. First, disadvantaged treatment by legal agents occurs because they lack the resources to resist applying negative labels. Second, the behavior of disadvantaged/minority offenders threatens the economic and moral interests of more powerful groups. Lastly, because crime is feared, sanctions will be harder if criminals are perceived as racially/culturally different and therefore more dangerous and unpredictable.
Steffensmeier and …show more content…
(2015). The Effect of Race/Ethnicity on Sentencing: Examining Sentence Type, Jail Length, and Prison Length. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice,
13(3), 179-196.
This study examined the effect of race on criminal sentencing outcomes. Specifically, it looks at the impact of race/ethnicity on sentencing outcomes among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. Researchers used data from the State Court Processing Statistics during four different years (2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006). Using secondary data analysis, they found that racial ethnic bias occurs in jail sentence length decisions but not prison sentence length decisions. More specifically, they found bias occurred in the sentence type (community sanction, jail, or prison).
Researchers in this study fell as though it is important to distinguish between jail sentences and prison sentences as combining the two may skew results. I feel as though a study conducted in this way is beneficial to my research question. Most studies combine sentence length into one lump sum. By looking at each issue separately, you can break down the different areas in which race/ethnicity have an effect and examine why that is the …show more content…
Law and Society Review, 16(1), 71-88.
This study aimed to solve some of the methodological issues with other studies concerning the effect of race and sentencing. Researchers found that other studies had too few cases and/or offenses, poor control of variables, use of one sentence decision as opposed to two, and had inadequate measures and techniques. In order to solve this, they used secondary data analysis to examine a large number of cases and offenses by dividing the sentencing decision into two parts. They used an appropriate scale to measure sentence severity and included controls for legal and extra legal variables.
The data for this study came from a file of nearly 50,000 cases between the years of 1968 and 1979 in Metro City. The initial data consisted of random sampling selected files. They then took the cases that contained the maximum charge for different offenses. Overall, they found that race did not have a direct effect on sentence severity, but that blacks were more likely to be incarcerated than whites. I find this study important to my research question because it not only addresses issues with other race and sentencing studies but goes on to fix those problem and conduct a more thorough study. From the results we see that race does in fact have an effect on sentencing. In this particular case, not on sentence severity, but on the incarceration
This particular study looked at the relationship between inequality and criminal punishment. Their research led them to develop three hypotheses. First, disadvantaged treatment by legal agents occurs because they lack the resources to resist applying negative labels. Second, the behavior of disadvantaged/minority offenders threatens the economic and moral interests of more powerful groups. Lastly, because crime is feared, sanctions will be harder if criminals are perceived as racially/culturally different and therefore more dangerous and unpredictable.
Steffensmeier and …show more content…
(2015). The Effect of Race/Ethnicity on Sentencing: Examining Sentence Type, Jail Length, and Prison Length. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice,
13(3), 179-196.
This study examined the effect of race on criminal sentencing outcomes. Specifically, it looks at the impact of race/ethnicity on sentencing outcomes among Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. Researchers used data from the State Court Processing Statistics during four different years (2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006). Using secondary data analysis, they found that racial ethnic bias occurs in jail sentence length decisions but not prison sentence length decisions. More specifically, they found bias occurred in the sentence type (community sanction, jail, or prison).
Researchers in this study fell as though it is important to distinguish between jail sentences and prison sentences as combining the two may skew results. I feel as though a study conducted in this way is beneficial to my research question. Most studies combine sentence length into one lump sum. By looking at each issue separately, you can break down the different areas in which race/ethnicity have an effect and examine why that is the …show more content…
Law and Society Review, 16(1), 71-88.
This study aimed to solve some of the methodological issues with other studies concerning the effect of race and sentencing. Researchers found that other studies had too few cases and/or offenses, poor control of variables, use of one sentence decision as opposed to two, and had inadequate measures and techniques. In order to solve this, they used secondary data analysis to examine a large number of cases and offenses by dividing the sentencing decision into two parts. They used an appropriate scale to measure sentence severity and included controls for legal and extra legal variables.
The data for this study came from a file of nearly 50,000 cases between the years of 1968 and 1979 in Metro City. The initial data consisted of random sampling selected files. They then took the cases that contained the maximum charge for different offenses. Overall, they found that race did not have a direct effect on sentence severity, but that blacks were more likely to be incarcerated than whites. I find this study important to my research question because it not only addresses issues with other race and sentencing studies but goes on to fix those problem and conduct a more thorough study. From the results we see that race does in fact have an effect on sentencing. In this particular case, not on sentence severity, but on the incarceration