ABSTRACT
Handbook on Punishment Decisions: Locations of Disparity provides a comprehensive assessment of the current knowledge on sites of disparity in punishment decision-making. This collection of essays and reports of original research defines disparity broadly to include the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, age, citizenship/immigration status, and socioeconomic status, and it examines dimensions such as how pretrial or guilty plea processes shape exposure to punishment, how different types of sentencing decisions and/or policy structures (sentencing guidelines, mandatory minimums, risk assessment tools) might shape and condition disparity, and how post-sentencing decisions involving probation and parole contribute to inequalities. The sixteen contributions pull together what we know and what we don’t about punishment decision-making and plow new ground for further advances in the field.
The ASC Division on Corrections & Sentencing Handbook Series publishes volumes on topics ranging from violence risk assessment to specialty courts for drug users, veterans, or people with mental illness. Each thematic volume focuses on a single topical issue that intersects with corrections and sentencing research.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|72 pages
Policy Choices and Mass Punishment
chapter 2|23 pages
Mass Probation and Inequality
chapter 3|14 pages
Sowing the Seeds of Future Justice System Disparities
part II|105 pages
Disparities in Pre-Conviction Processes
chapter 5|23 pages
“Escape” From Punishment
chapter 6|19 pages
Discretion in the Absence of Guidelines
part III|149 pages
Disparities in Punishment Outcomes
chapter 8|22 pages
Focal Concerns Theory as Conceptual Tool for Studying Intersectionality in Sentencing Disparities
chapter 9|27 pages
Racial and Ethnic Disparities Among Female Offenders Adjudicated in Federal Courts
chapter 10|25 pages
Studying Ethnic Disparities in Sentencing
chapter 11|26 pages
The Relationship Between the Gender of the Probation Officer and Judicial Sentencing
part IV|79 pages
Risk