Punishment Outcomes in Context: Understanding the Combined Influence of Threat and Focal Concerns

• In Event: Racial, Economic, and Political Threat in Punishment

Abstract

Across the last 40 years, the number of racial and ethnic minorities under correctional supervision in the United States has increased by more than 200 percent with Blacks and Latinos 6 and 3 times as likely as Whites to be incarcerated. Given these disparities, it is important to systematically explore how and under what conditions racial and ethnic minorities are disadvantaged during the sentencing process. Prior research has overwhelmingly been guided by two theoretical perspectives – focal concerns and racial threat. Although these frameworks have been explored separately, few studies have examined whether racial/ethnic threat conditions the effect of focal concerns on sentence severity across White, Black and Latino defendants. To that end, using Florida Sentencing Guidelines data, this study investigates whether racial and ethnic threat moderate the effects of focal concerns on punitive outcomes. The preliminary results suggest that focal concerns – blameworthiness and protection of the community - are most relevant to punitive outcomes in areas with larger Black populations but not in places with larger Latino populations.

Authors

• Patricia Y. Warren, Florida State University

• Eric A. Stewart, Independent Scholar

• Fawn Ngo, University of South Florida