Revisiting the Minority Threat Perspective: Examining the Main and Interactive Effects of Segregation on Sentencing Severity. (7th June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Beckman, Laura; Wang, Xia
• Is Part Of: Justice quarterly. Volume 39:Number 4(2022)
• Page Start: 745
• Page End: 771
• Publication Date: 2022-06-07
• Subjects: Sentencing -- minority threat -- racial segregation -- ethnic segregation; Criminal justice, Administration of -- Periodicals; Criminal justice, Administration of -- United States -- Periodicals; 340.11405
• DOI: 10.1080/07418825.2020.1854832
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0741-8825

Abstract

Abstract: Drawing on the minority threat perspective, this study assesses the main and interactive effects of racial/ethnic segregation on the incarceration and sentence length decisions. Using the State Court Processing Statistics in combination with other data, we employ multilevel models to examine (1) whether racial/ethnic segregation affects sentencing severity, (2) whether racial/ethnic segregation moderates the effects of racial/ethnic composition, and (3) whether racial/ethnic segregation reduces racial/ethnic disparity in punitive sentencing. Both racial and ethnic segregation displayed mitigating effects on punishment severity. In particular, racial segregation reduced the effect of racial composition on probabilities of receiving a prison term, and ethnic segregation reduced the effect of ethnic composition on probabilities of receiving a jail sentence. Our results suggest that the minority threat perspective and its theoretical accounts of segregation can be partially applied to sentencing outcomes in state courts.