Relational Justice: Examining Victim-Offender Relationships in Criminal Sentencing

• In Event: The Impact of Victimization on Punishment and Sentencing

Abstract

A substantial body of research shows that offender characteristics, particularly demographics such as race, gender, and age, significantly influence sentencing outcomes. In the meantime, while findings are mixed, some studies suggest that victim characteristics, especially gender, can also predict punishment severity. However, to date, the impact of the relationship between victim and offender on sentencing remains largely unexplored. Existing research has primarily focused on intimate partner violence. This narrow focus limits the conceptualization of “relationship,” often reducing it to a set of objective characteristics rather than a complex social construct. Due to data restrictions, other types of relationships—such as family members, friends, colleagues, or preexisting conflicts—have been largely overlooked. While not formal legal factors, these relationships can also shape the social meaning of the specific act of violence in different social contexts and can influence sentencing outcomes, as punishment in a given society inherently reflects societal norms. To address this gap, this study utilizes a novel dataset of all homicide and assault cases in China between 2014 and 2020. Leveraging AI-powered natural language processing (NLP) models, we extract and analyze the full range of victim-offender relationships from judicial ruling narratives to better understand their impact on sentencing decisions.

Authors

• Dixin Li, University of Maryland

• Yuxuan Gu, The Chinese University of Hong Kong