Social Worlds Of Sentencing

Combines quantitative and qualitative data in a careful investigation of sentencing processes and context under Pennsylvania's sentencing guidelines.

Many states and the federal system have embraced sentencing guidelines as a mechanism of sentencing reform. This book draws from interactionist theories of organizations, and James Eisenstein's depiction of courts as communities, to frame an investigation of sentencing disparity, case processing, and organizational relations under Pennsylvania's sentencing guidelines. The author provides a statistical analysis of statewide sentencing outcomes and a comparative statistical and ethnographic analysis of three different-sized county courts. The statistical data show that the major influences on sentencing are legally prescribed ones, but that factors such as conviction by trial, race and gender, and court size are also significant. Ethnographic data illuminate processes behind the statistics by connecting court organizational contexts to case processing strategies, and these strategies to sentencing outcomes. The book concludes with twelve general propositions for future research, discussing possibilities and limitations of sentencing guidelines, and addressing broader issues in the sociology of crime, law, and organizations.

Handbook on Punishment Decisions: Locations of Disparity provides a comprehensive assessment of the current knowledge on sites of disparity in punishment decision-making. This collection of essays and reports of original research defines disparity broadly to include the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, age, citizenship/immigration status, and socioeconomic status, and it examines dimensions such as how pretrial or guilty plea processes shape exposure to punishment, how different types of sentencing decisions and/or policy structures (sentencing guidelines, mandatory minimums, risk assessment tools) might shape and condition disparity, and how post-sentencing decisions involving probation and parole contribute to inequalities. The sixteen contributions pull together what we know and what we don’t about punishment decision-making and plow new ground for further advances in the field. The ASC Division on Corrections & Sentencing Handbook Series publishes volumes on topics ranging from violence risk assessment to specialty courts for drug users, veterans, or people with mental illness. Each thematic volume focuses on a single topical issue that intersects with corrections and sentencing research.

The appropriate amount of punishment for a given crime is an issue that has been debated by scholars, philosophers and legal professionals since the beginning of civilizations. This book seeks to address this issue in all of its complexity by providing a comprehensive overview of the sentencing process in the United States. The book begins by discussing the overall concept of punishment and then proceeds to dissect individual aspects of punishment. Topics include: the sentencing process; responsibility of the judge; disparity and discrimination in sentencing; and sentencing reform. This book is an ideal text for introductory courses on the judicial system, criminal law, law and society. It can be an essential resource to help students understand patterns in the wide discretion and latitude given to judges when determining punishments within the framework of the United States judicial system.

This research monograph provides a comparative analysis of juvenile court outcomes, exploring the influence of contextual factors on juvenile punishment across systems and communities. In doing so, it investigates whether, how, and to what extent macro-social context influences variation in juvenile punishment. The contextual hypotheses under investigation evaluate three prominent macro-sociall theoretical approaches: the conflict-oriented perspective of community threat, the consensus-oriented perspective of social disorganization, and the organizational perspective of the political economy of the juvenile court. Using multilevel modeling techniques, the study investigates these macro-social influences on juvenile justice outcomes across nearly 500 counties in seven states—Alabama, Connecticut, Missouri, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Findings suggest that the contextual indicators under investigation did not explain variation in juvenile court punishment across communities and systems, and the study proposes several implications for future research and policy. This monograph is essential reading for scholars of juvenile justice system impact and reform as well as practitioners engaged in youth policy and juvenile justice work. It is unique in taking a comparative perspective that acknowledges that there is no one juvenile justice system in the United States, but many such systems.

Combining the latest work of leading sentencing and punishment scholars from twelve different countries, this major new international volume answers key questions in the study of sentencing and society. It presents not only a rigorous examination of the latest legal and empirical research from around the world, but also reveals the workings of sentencing within society and as a social practice. Traditionally, work in the field of sentencing has been dominated by legal and philosophical approaches. Distinctively, this volume provides a more sociological approach to sentencing: so allowing previously unanswered questions to be addressed and new questions to be opened. This extensive collection is drawn from around one third of the papers presented at the First International Conference on Sentencing and Society. Almost without exception, the chapters have been revised, cross-referenced and updated. The overall themes and findings of the international volume are set out by the opening "Introduction" and the closing "Reflections" chapters. Research findings on particular penal policy questions are balanced with an analysis of fundamental conceptual issues, making this international volume essential reading for: sentencing and punishment scholars, criminal justice policy-makers, and graduate students.

It is generally accepted that men commit more crimes than women. The widespread acceptance of this view is based primarily on the number of convictions with most jurisdictions reporting considerably fewer incarcerated women/girls than men/boys. This manuscript argues however that decisions made by the various stakeholders that play a role in the incarceration of men are inherently gendered. These decisions are based on patriarchal perceptions and stereotypes related to the familial roles of men and women, and by extension their motivations or offending. Few studies have sought to explore the nature of these perceptions, and the effect these may have on incarceration patterns. Indeed, this form of inquiry remains absent from the research agenda of Caribbean criminologists. Using qualitative data from Barbados, this book analyses the extent to which these factors are taken into consideration not only by the police and members of the judiciary, but by examining the gendered decisions made by shop managers and proprietors in cases involving shoplifting, it seeks to analyse the extent to which these factors are taken into consideration before incidents reach the justice system. Critically, this book seeks also to juxtapose these assumptions against testimony from men incarcerated at Her Majesty’s Prison. The large proportion of males in Caribbean prisons when compared to their female counterparts necessitates an investigation into the factors that may contribute to differential treatment as they move through the justice system. Using data from Barbados, the present study seeks to fill this need.

Over the last few decades, the racial and ethnic composition of the United States has changed dramatically. This seismic transformation has important implications for theory, research, policy, and public opinion – perhaps most crucially around the topic of race/ethnicity and our justice systems. Recent national events – from Ferguson, to ferocious public debate about racism, to media depictions of police violence – have reawakened the tense question of race relations in the 21st century. This edited collection of research aims to highlight contemporary issues surrounding the overrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities throughout both the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Our contributors cover both formal sources of social control (e.g. police, courts, correction facilities) and perceptions and public opinions of the relationship between race/ethnicity and offending behaviors. As the intellectual sphere ignites with fresh debate, old questions redefined and new ones asked, this publication provides innovative insight into how race and ethnicity interconnect with all aspects of criminology and criminal justice. Furthermore it helps encourage directions for future research, practice, and public policy. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Crime and Justice.