A Racial Analysis of Arrests for Sexually Based Offenses

• In Event: Explaining Race-Ethnic Disparity in Punishment Decisions

Abstract

This study aims to expand previous research by exploring how the race of the victim and the offender, as well as the interaction between the two may affect rates of arrest associated with sexually based offenses. Acknowledging that there has been discriminatory treatment within the U.S. criminal justice system is not a novel perspective. While the race and gender of those involved have been scrutinized within the process of police arrests, most research has focused on prosecution and sentencing stages of the process. Furthermore, most research on discrepancies in arrest rates focus solely on the characteristics of the offender, with any inclusion of victim characteristics simply being additive in nature. The National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) uses data collected from police following 911 calls. This study uses data from NIBRS in a multi-level format to investigate the relationships between victim and offender race and arrest rates in a geographically nested model.

Author

• Colleen Ray, University of Nebraska - Lincoln