Research on differential justice suggests the need for analyses of the independent and interactive effects of offender and victim social characteristics on judicial decisions. The article that follows addresses this issue through an application of analysis of variance to data on the adjudication of cases in homicide (N = 444 defendants and 432 victims). The findings of the study suggest that male defendants, white, female, and higher-status victims, and lower-status persons held in the death of those of higher status elicit the more severe legal response. We argue that this pattern may be a product of an interpretive process wherein authorities come to rely on the social attributes of actors in arriving at determinations of culpability in an offense characterized by complex social relationships. That the analysis reveals no differences in the adjudication of inter- and intraracial and inter- and intragender offenses, or independent effects of the defendant's race or occupational prestige on adjudication also has implications for the findings of prior research in these areas.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ares, C. E.
, A. Rankin, and H. Sturz1963“The Manhattan Bail Project: an interim report on the use of pre-trial parole.”New York University Law Rev.38: 67-95.
2.
Block, R.
and F. E. Zimring1973“Homicide in Chicago, 1965-1970.”J. of Research in Crime and Delinquency10: 1-12.
3.
Blumstein, A.
, J. Cohen, S. E. Martin, and M. H. Tonry 1983 Research on Sentencing: The Search for Reform (Vol. I and II). Washington DC: National Academy Press.
4.
Borhrnstedt, G. W.
and T. M. Carter 1971 “Robustness in regression analysis,” in H. L. Costner (ed.) Sociological Methodology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
5.
Boris, S. B.1979“Stereotypes and dispositions for criminal homicide.”Criminology17: 139-158.
6.
Brereton, D.
and J. Casper1982“Does it pay to plead guilty.”Law and Society Rev.16: 1645-1670.
7.
Burke, P. J.
and A. T. Turk1975“Factors affecting post-arrest dispositions: a model for analysis.”Social problems22: 313-332.
8.
Cameron, M. O.
1964 The Booster and the Snitch: Department Store Shoplifting. New York: Free Press.
9.
Chiricos, T. G.
, P. D. Jackson, and G. P. Waldo1972“Inequality and the imposition of a criminal label.”Social Problems19: 533-572.
10.
DePorte, J. V.
and E. Parkhurst1935“Homicide in New York State; a statistical study of the victims and criminals in thirty-seven counties in 1921-1930.”Human Biology7: 47-73.
11.
E'Esposito, J. C., Jr.
, 1969“Sentencing disparity: causes and cures.”J. of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Sci.60: 182-195.
12.
Ehrmann, S. B.1962“For whom the chair waits.”Federal Probation26: 14-25.
13.
Eisenstein, J.
and H. Jacob 1977 Felony Justice. Boston: Little Brown.
14.
Farrell, R. A.
and V. L. Swigert1978a“Legal disposition of inter-group and intra-group homicides.”Soc. Q.19: 565-576.
15.
Farrell, R. A.
and V. L. Swigert1978b“Prior offense record as a self-fulfilling prophecy.”Law and Society Rev.12: 437-453.
16.
Foote, C.1956“Vagrancy-type law and its administration.”University of Pennsylvania Law Rev.104: 603-650.
17.
Foote, C.1959“The bail system and equal justice.”Federal Probation23: 43-48.
18.
Frazier, C. E.
, E. W. Bock, and J. C. Henretta1983“The role of probation officers in determining gender differences in sentencing severity.”Soc. Q.24: 305-318.
19.
Garfinkel, H.1949“Research note on inter- and intra-racial homicides.”Social Forces27: 370-381.
20.
Green, E.
1961 Judicial Attitudes in Sentencing. New York: St. Martins.
21.
Green, E.1964“Inter- and intra-racial crime relative to sentencing.”J. of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Sci.55: 348-358.
22.
Green, E.1970“Race, social status, and criminal arrest.”Amer. Soc. Rev.35: 476-490.
23.
Johnson, G. B.1941“The Negro and crime.”The Annals of the Amer. Academy of Pol. and Social Sci.217: 93-104.
24.
Judson, C. J.
, J. J. Pandell, J. B. Owens, J. L. McIntosh, and D. L. Matschullat1969“A study of the penalty jury in first degree murder cases.”Stanford Law Rev.21: 1297-1431.
25.
Kleck, G.1981“Racial discrimination in criminal sentencing: a critical evaluation of the evidence with additional evidence on the death penalty.”Amer. Soc. Rev.46: 783-805.
26.
Krohn, M. D.
, J. P. Curry, and S. Nelson-Kilger1983“Is chivalry dead: an analysis of changes in police dispositions of males and females.”Criminology21: 417-437.
27.
Kruttschnitt, C.
and D. E. Green1984“The sex sanctioning issue: is it history.”Amer. Soc. Rev.49: 541-551.
28.
LaFree, G.1980“The effect of sexual stratification by race on official reaction to rape.”Amer. Soc. Rev.45: 842-854.
29.
Lewis-Beck, M.
1980 Applied Regression: An Introduction to Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences. Beverly Hills: Sage.
30.
Lizotte, A.1978“Extra-legal factors in Chicago's criminal courts: testing the conflict model of criminal justice.”Social Problems25: 564-580.
31.
Louisianna Law Review1961“The institution of bail as related to indigent defendants.”Louisiana Law Rev.21: 627.
32.
Lundsgaarde, H. P.
1977 “Murder in Space City: A Cultural Analysis of Houston Homicide Patterns. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
33.
Myers, M. A.1979“Offended parties and official reactions: victims and the sentencing of criminal defendants.”Soc. Q.20: 529-540.
34.
Myers, M. A.1980“Predicting the behavior of law: a test of two models.”Law and Society Rev.14: 835-857.
35.
Myers, M. A.
and J. Hagan1979“Private and public trouble: prosecutors and the allocation of court resources.”Social Problems26: 239-251.
36.
Nagel, I. H.1983“The legal/extra-legal controversy: judicial decisions in pretrial release.”Law and Society Rev.17: 481-515.
37.
Paternoster, R.1984“Prosecutorial discretion in requesting the death penalty: a case of victim based racial discrimination.”Law and Society Rev.18: 437-478.
38.
Radelet, M. L.1981“Racial characteristics and the imposition of the death penalty.”Amer. Soc. Rev.45: 918-927.
39.
Rosett, A.1967“The negotiated guilty plea: an evaluation.”Annals of the Amer. Academy of Pol. and Social Sci.374: 70-81.
40.
Shoemaker, D. J.
, D. R. South, and J. Lowe1973“Facial stereotypes of deviants and judgments of guilt or innocence.”Social Forces51: 427-433.
41.
Skolnick, J. H.
1966 Justice Without Trial: Law Enforcement in Democratic Society. New York: John Wiley.
42.
Spohn, C.
, J. Gruhl, and S. Welsh1982“The effect of race on sentencing: a reexamination of an unsettled question.”Law and Society Rev.16: 71-88.
43.
Stanko, E.
1985 Intimate Intrusions. London: Routledge and Kegan.
44.
Steffensmeier, D. J.
and R. M. Terry1973“Deviance and respectability: an observational study of reactions to shoplifting.”Social Forces51: 417-426.
45.
Sudnow, D.1965“Normal crimes: Sociological features of the penal code in a public defender office.”Social Problems12: 255-276.
46.
Swigert, V. L.
and R. A. Farrell 1976 Murder, Inequality and the Law. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
47.
Swigert, V. L.
and R. A. Farrell1977“Normal homicides and the law.”Amer. Soc. Rev.42: 16-32.
48.
Swigert, V. L.
and R. A. Farrell1980“Speedy trial and the legal process.”Law and Human Behavior4: 135-145.
49.
Trieman, D.
1977 Occupational Prestige in Comparative Perspective. New York: Academic Press.
50.
Unnever, J. D.1982“Direct and organizational discrimination in the sentencing of drug offenders.”Social Problems30: 212-225.
51.
Visher, C. A.1983“Gender, police arrest decisions and notions of chivalry.”Criminology21: 5-28.
52.
Westley, W. A.1953“Violence and the police”Amer. J. of Sociology50: 34-41.
53.
Willick, D. H.
, G. Gehlker, and A. M. Watts1975“Social class as a factor affecting judicial disposition: defendants charged with criminal homosexual acts.”Criminology13: 57-77.
54.
Wolfgang, M. E.1957“Victim precipitated Homicide.”J. of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Sci.48: 1-11.
55.
Wolfgang, M. E.
1958 Patterns in Criminal Homicide. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press.
56.
Wolfgang, M. E.
and M. Riedel1975“Rape, race and the death penalty in Georgia.”Amer. J. of Orthopsychiatry45: 658-667.
