IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jcjust/v92y2024ics0047235224000412.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Bias in prosecutorial decision making: Bridging focal concerns & group threat

Author

Listed:
  • Avni, Omrit
  • Guetzkow, Joshua
  • Hasisi, Badi

Abstract

Two dominant theoretical approaches used to explain racial and ethnic disparities in criminal justice outcomes are focal concerns and group threat. This study tests hypotheses about disparities in prosecutors' indictment decisions drawn from these theories, as well as the liberation hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Avni, Omrit & Guetzkow, Joshua & Hasisi, Badi, 2024. "Bias in prosecutorial decision making: Bridging focal concerns & group threat," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:92:y:2024:i:c:s0047235224000412
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102192
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235224000412
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2024.102192?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. S. Fernando Rodriguez & Theodore R. Curry & Gang Lee, 2006. "Gender Differences in Criminal Sentencing: Do Effects Vary Across Violent, Property, and Drug Offenses?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(2), pages 318-339, June.
    2. Anderson, James M & Kling, Jeffrey R & Stith, Kate, 1999. "Measuring Interjedge Sentencing Disparity: Before and After the Federal Sentencing Guidelines," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(1), pages 271-307, April.
    3. Iacus, Stefano & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2009. "cem: Software for Coarsened Exact Matching," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 30(i09).
    4. Sascha O. Becker & Marco Caliendo, 2007. "Sensitivity analysis for average treatment effects," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 7(1), pages 71-83, February.
    5. Lee, Bethany R. & Thompson, Ron, 2008. "Comparing outcomes for youth in treatment foster care and family-style group care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(7), pages 746-757, July.
    6. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2011. "Multivariate Matching Methods That Are Monotonic Imbalance Bounding," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 106(493), pages 345-361.
    7. Arye Rattner & Boris Portnov, 2007. "Distance decay function in criminal behavior: a case of Israel," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 41(3), pages 673-688, September.
    8. Franklin, Travis W., 2010. "Community influence on prosecutorial dismissals: A multilevel analysis of case- and county-level factors," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 693-701, July.
    9. Matthew Blackwell & Stefano Iacus & Gary King & Giuseppe Porro, 2009. "cem: Coarsened exact matching in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(4), pages 524-546, December.
    10. Arild Aakvik, 2001. "Bounding a Matching Estimator: The Case of a Norwegian Training Program," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 63(1), pages 115-143, February.
    11. Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Nonparametric Estimation of Average Treatment Effects Under Exogeneity: A Review," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 4-29, February.
    12. Franklin, Travis W., 2010. "The intersection of defendants' race, gender, and age in prosecutorial decision making," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 185-192, March.
    13. Anthony Vito & George Higgins & Gennaro Vito, 2021. "Police Stop and Frisk and the Impact of Race: A Focal Concerns Theory Approach," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-13, June.
    14. King, Gary & Nielsen, Richard, 2019. "Why Propensity Scores Should Not Be Used for Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(4), pages 435-454, October.
    15. Boris A. Portnov & Arye Rattner, 2004. "Investigating the effect of inter-urban income disparities on crime rates in Israel," SCIENZE REGIONALI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2004(1).
    16. Shamena Anwar & Patrick Bayer & Randi Hjalmarsson, 2012. "The Impact of Jury Race in Criminal Trials," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(2), pages 1017-1055.
    17. Mustard, David B, 2001. "Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Disparities in Sentencing: Evidence from the U.S. Federal Courts," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(1), pages 285-314, April.
    18. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2012. "Causal Inference without Balance Checking: Coarsened Exact Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 1-24, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuri Ostrovsky & Garnett Picot, 2021. "Innovation in immigrant-owned firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1857-1874, December.
    2. Kotsogiannis, Christos & Salvadori, Luca & Karangwa, John & Mukamana, Theonille, 2024. "Do tax audits have a dynamic impact? Evidence from corporate income tax administrative data," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Patrik Gustavsson Tingvall & Josefin Videnord, 2020. "Regional differences in effects of publicly sponsored R&D grants on SME performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 951-969, April.
    4. Huang, Wei & Li, Fan & Liao, Xiaowei & Hu, Pingping, 2018. "More money, better performance? The effects of student loans and need-based grants in China's higher education," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 208-227.
    5. de Rassenfosse, Gaétan & Palangkaraya, Alfons & Webster, Elizabeth, 2016. "Why do patents facilitate trade in technology? Testing the disclosure and appropriation effects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1326-1336.
    6. Khorana, Sangeeta & Webster, Allan, 2023. "Too few women at the top of firms: Foreign ownership, gender segregation and cultural causes," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1276, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    7. Christos Kotsogiannis & Luca Salvadori & John Karangwa & Innocente Murasi, 2024. "E-invoicing, Tax Audits and VAT Compliance," Working Papers 1454, Barcelona School of Economics.
    8. Philipp vom Berge & Achim Schmillen, 2023. "Effects of mass layoffs on local employment—evidence from geo-referenced data," Journal of International Economic Law, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(3), pages 509-539.
    9. Davidson Heath & Giorgo Sertsios, 2022. "Profitability and Financial Leverage: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 8386-8410, November.
    10. Ravi Bapna & Alok Gupta & Gautam Ray & Shweta Singh, 2023. "Single-Sourcing vs. Multisourcing: An Empirical Analysis of Large Information Technology Outsourcing Arrangements," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(3), pages 1109-1130, September.
    11. Yiwei Qian & Rodolfo M. Nayga & Michael R. Thomsen & Heather L. Rouse, 2016. "The Effect of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program on Childhood Obesity," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 260-275.
    12. Khanna, Rajat, 2023. "Passing the torch of knowledge: Star death, collaborative ties, and knowledge creation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    13. Augusto Cerqua & Guido Pellegrini, 2017. "Industrial policy evaluation in the presence of spillovers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 671-686, October.
    14. Ferrés, Daniel & Ormazabal, Gaizka & Povel, Paul & Sertsios, Giorgo, 2021. "Capital structure under collusion," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    15. Isabelle Solal & Kaisa Snellman, 2019. "Women Don’t Mean Business? Gender Penalty in Board Composition," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(6), pages 1270-1288, November.
    16. Ravi Bapna & Alok Gupta & Gautam Ray & Shweta Singh, 2016. "Research Note —IT Outsourcing and the Impact of Advisors on Clients and Vendors," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 636-647.
    17. Yeon, Kwanghun & Han, Doo Bong, 2018. "Effects of Dietary Education on Food Consumption," 2018 Annual Meeting, February 2-6, 2018, Jacksonville, Florida 266534, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    18. Clayton, Paige, 2024. "Mentored without incubation: Start-up survival, funding, and the role of entrepreneurial support organization services," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    19. Blázquez, Maite & Herrarte, Ainhoa & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2024. "Has the COVID-19 pandemic widened the gender gap in paid work hours in Spain?," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 90(2), pages 313-348, June.
    20. Engberg, Erik & Halvarsson, Daniel & Tingvall, Patrik, 2017. "Direct and Indirect Effects of Private- and Government Sponsored Venture Capital," Ratio Working Papers 288, The Ratio Institute.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:92:y:2024:i:c:s0047235224000412. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcrimjus .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.