Property Crime vs. White-Collar Crime: An Experimental Test of Sentencing Recommendations

• In Event: 40461 - Section on Sociology of Law Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2: Judge and Prosecutorial Decision Making

Abstract

This study investigates public perceptions of sentencing disparities between white-collar crime and property crime through an experimental approach. I explore how offender characteristics, the circumstances of the offense, and offense characteristics (e.g., severity of financial harm) influence the willingness to sanction a “white-collar” crime compared to a “property” crime. To test this, I conducted an online experiment where participants read what they believed to be a real-life criminal court case and engaged in tasks assessing their views of the offender, the crime, and their willingness to punish the offender. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four vignettes depicting crime scenarios (white-collar crime vs. property crime and low financial impact vs. high financial impact) and were asked to provide sentencing recommendations based on the case. Immediately following the vignettes, I tested a behavioral measure that requested donations to a campaign that supports crime-related victim funds and a behavioral intention measure that assessed the severity of punishment assigned to the offender. Following this, I measured attitudes towards the severity of the crime and the criminal justice system in general. A 2x2 ANOVA was used to examine the main effects and interaction effects between crime type and financial impact. I hypothesized that 1) crimes with high financial impact would receive harsher recommended sentences than those with low financial impact and 2) property crimes would be sentenced more severely than white-collar crimes, even when financial harm is greater in the latter. Preliminary findings suggested that participants tended to assign lighter sentences to white-collar crimes, which supports the notion of judicial leniency and public perception biases. These results contribute to the broader discussion on biases within the criminal justice system and underscore the need for policy discussions regarding sentencing guidelines to ensure more equitable justice outcomes.

Author

• Kirstie Boyett, Lamar University