Researchers in Criminology including Kleck (1981) , Hagans (1974), and Spohn (2000) posit that democracy’s depend on transparency of their systems to legitimize the criminal justice process. Because of the pivotal importance of systemic legitimacy, racial disparity in punishment has become a polarized topic for criminal justice administrators and academics. Previous research efforts have often delivered data and hypothesis that were conflicting and open to contrary interpretations. This paper seeks to determine the context of racial disparity as applied to the criminal justice process, and if that process could be institutionally discriminating against defendants on the basis of race or other variables.
In the first research study, Kleck (1981) …show more content…
The researcher hypothesizes that the qualitative narrative reviews by Chiricos & Crawford (1995), Kleck (1981), and Spohn (200) are fraught with methodological weakness that may taint the conclusions of those efforts. Mitchell sets about defining how the inconsistencies are ramifications of context and exerts that an “effect size” (Mitchell, 2005) could be skewing the data towards an unreliable outcome. The author constructed a Meta-Analysis that is dependent on the threat hypothesis of the conflict perspective. Mitchell’s analysis evaluates whether African Americans are sentenced more harshly than whites, independent of the seriousness of the offense and the criminal history of the defendants. The research data was gathered by a generalized keyword pattern search of 3 computerized bibliographic databases. The researcher identified 80 studies of 331 evaluated as “codeable” (Mitchell, 2005) to the study. The general limitations of Mitchell’s data are significant, in that the search parameters of the study were restricted to search-bar level keyword associations. This could have tainted the results by limiting database returns to studies with specific keyword algorithmic structures like sentencing + racial bias. Further, Mitchells decision to evaluate unpublished studies calls into question the face validity of the data offered, which consisted of studies …show more content…
Holcomb, Williams, and Demuth believe that a “white female effect” in regards to victim gender and race creates a perpetuating disparity in homicide cases leading more often to the death penalty for defendants. The researchers (again) cite Kleck (1981) and Baumer (2000) as postulating that the legal system as a whole must view crimes against females as more harmful than crimes with male victims. The data set utilized by the researchers (n=324 death sentences) was drawn from the FBI Supplemental Homicide Report for the years 1981-1997 from the state of Ohio. Holcomb, Williams, and Demuth conclude that the odds of a death sentence are 1.766 times greater for defendants who murder white victims. However, the researchers also reported that felony circumstances (as predicted by Kleck) and age (victims under 12 years) significantly increased the odds of a death penalty outcome. The study demonstrated that there is a strong association between gender and death penalty outcomes, with the researchers noting that victim gender may be substantively more important than victim race in understanding the death sentence
In the first research study, Kleck (1981) …show more content…
The researcher hypothesizes that the qualitative narrative reviews by Chiricos & Crawford (1995), Kleck (1981), and Spohn (200) are fraught with methodological weakness that may taint the conclusions of those efforts. Mitchell sets about defining how the inconsistencies are ramifications of context and exerts that an “effect size” (Mitchell, 2005) could be skewing the data towards an unreliable outcome. The author constructed a Meta-Analysis that is dependent on the threat hypothesis of the conflict perspective. Mitchell’s analysis evaluates whether African Americans are sentenced more harshly than whites, independent of the seriousness of the offense and the criminal history of the defendants. The research data was gathered by a generalized keyword pattern search of 3 computerized bibliographic databases. The researcher identified 80 studies of 331 evaluated as “codeable” (Mitchell, 2005) to the study. The general limitations of Mitchell’s data are significant, in that the search parameters of the study were restricted to search-bar level keyword associations. This could have tainted the results by limiting database returns to studies with specific keyword algorithmic structures like sentencing + racial bias. Further, Mitchells decision to evaluate unpublished studies calls into question the face validity of the data offered, which consisted of studies …show more content…
Holcomb, Williams, and Demuth believe that a “white female effect” in regards to victim gender and race creates a perpetuating disparity in homicide cases leading more often to the death penalty for defendants. The researchers (again) cite Kleck (1981) and Baumer (2000) as postulating that the legal system as a whole must view crimes against females as more harmful than crimes with male victims. The data set utilized by the researchers (n=324 death sentences) was drawn from the FBI Supplemental Homicide Report for the years 1981-1997 from the state of Ohio. Holcomb, Williams, and Demuth conclude that the odds of a death sentence are 1.766 times greater for defendants who murder white victims. However, the researchers also reported that felony circumstances (as predicted by Kleck) and age (victims under 12 years) significantly increased the odds of a death penalty outcome. The study demonstrated that there is a strong association between gender and death penalty outcomes, with the researchers noting that victim gender may be substantively more important than victim race in understanding the death sentence