Does an offender's age have an effect on sentence length?: A meta-analytic review

Criminal Justice Policy Review

Volumn 20, Issue 4, 2009, Pages 379-413

  Wu, Jawjeong ^a   Spohn, Cassia ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA   (United States)

^b ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Meta analysis; Sentence length; Sentencing disparity

Indexed keywords

EID: 70449355024     PISSN: 08874034     EISSN: 15523586     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0887403409333047     Document Type: Article

References (105)

1. Albonetti, C.A. (1991). An integration of theories to explain judicial discretion. Social Problems, 38, 247-266.
2. *Albonetti, C.A. (1998). The role of gender and departures in the sentencing of defendants convicted of a white-collar offense under the federal sentencing guidelines. Sociology of Crime, Law, and Deviance, 1, 3-48.
3. *Auerhahn, K. (2007). Just another crime? Examining disparity in homicide sentencing. Sociological Quarterly, 48, 277-313.
4. Baier, C.J., & Wright, B.R.E. (2001). If you love me, keep my commandments: A meta-analysis of the effect of religion on crime. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 38, 3-21.
5. &z.ast;Benson, M.L., & Walker, E. (1988). Sentencing the white-collar offender. American Sociological Review, 53, 294-302.
6. Box, C., & Hale, S. (1985). Unemployment, imprisonment and prison overcrowding. Contemporary Crises, 9, 209-228.
7. Bridges, G.S., & Steen, S. (1998). Racial disparities in official assessments of juvenile offenders: Attributional stereotypes as mediating mechanisms. American Sociological Review, 64, 554-570.
8. *Britt, C.L. (2000). Social context and racial disparities in punishment decisions. Justice Quarterly, 17, 707-732.
9. &z.ast;Bushway, S.D., & Piehl, A.M. (2001). Judging judicial discretion: Legal factors and racial discrimination in sentencing. Law & Society Review, 35, 733-764.
10. &z.ast;Bushway, S.D., & Piehl, A.M. (2007). Social science research and the legal threat to presumptive sentencing guidelines. Criminology & Public Policy, 6, 461-482.
11. Champion, D.J. (1987). Elderly felons and sentencing severity: Interregional variations in leniency and sentencing trends. Criminal Justice Review, 12, 7-14.
12. &z.ast;Chiricos, T.G., & Bales, W.D. (1991). Unemployment and punishment: An empirical assessment. Criminology, 29, 701-724.
13. &z.ast;Chiricos, T.G., & Waldo, G.P. (1975). Socioeconomic status and criminal sentencing: An empirical assessment of a conflict proposition. American Sociological Review, 40, 753-772.
14. Cohen J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155-159.
15. Cooper, H.M. (1998). Synthesizing research: A guide for literature reviews. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
16. &z.ast;Crow, M.S., & Bales, W. (2006). Sentencing guidelines and focus concerns: The effect of sentencing policy as a practical constraint on sentencing decisions. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 30, 285-304.
17. *Croyle, J.L. (1983). Measuring and explaining disparities in felony sentences: Courtroom work group factors and race, sex, and socioeconomic influences on sentence severity. Political Behavior, 5, 135-153.
18. *Curran, D.A. (1983). Judicial discretion and defendant's sex. Criminology, 21, 41-58.
19. &z.ast;Curry, T.R., Lee, G., & Rodriguez, S.F. (2004). Does victim gender increase sentence severity? Further examinations of gender dynamics and sentencing outcomes. Crime & Delinquency, 50, 319-343.
20. Daly, K., & Bordt, R.L. (1995). Sex effects and sentencing: An analysis of the statistical literature. Justice Quarterly, 12, 141-175.
21. Demuth, S., & Steffensmeier, D. (2004). Ethnicity effects on sentence outcomes in felony cases: Comparisons among White, Black, and Hispanic defendants. Social Science Quarterly, 85, 994-1011.
22. &z.ast;Engen, R.L., & Gainey, R.R. (2000). Modeling the effects of legally relevant and extralegal factors under sentencing guidelines: The rules have changed. Criminology, 38, 1207-1229.
23. &z.ast;Everett, R.S., & Wojtkiewicz, R.A. (2002). Difference, disparity, and race/ethnic bias in federal sentencing. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 18, 189-211.
24. &z.ast;Farnworth, M., & Horan, P.M. (1980). Separate justice: An analysis of race differences in court processes. Social Science Research, 9, 381-399.
25. Feinberg, G., & McGriff, M.D. (1989). Defendant's advanced age as a prepotent status in criminal case disposition and sanction. In S. Chaneles & C. Burnett (Eds.), Older offenders: Current trends (pp. 87-124). New York: Haworth.
26. Frost, N.A. (2006). The punitive state: Crime, punishment, and imprisonment across the United States. New York: LFB.
27. Gendreau, P., Little, T., & Goggin, C.E. (1996). A meta-analysis of the predictors of adult offender recidivism: What works! Criminology, 34, 575-607.
28. *Hanke, P.J. (1995). Sentencing disparities by race of offender and victim: Women homicide offenders in Alabama, 1929-1985. Sociological Spectrum, 15, 277-297.
29. &z.ast;Hartley, R.D., Maddan, S., & Walker, J.T. (2006). Sentencing practices under the Arkansas sentencing guideline structure. Journal of Criminal Justice, 34, 493-506.
30. Hawkins, D. (1981). Causal attribution and punishment for crime. Deviant Behavior, 1, 207-230.
31. Hebert, C.G. (1997). Sentencing outcomes of Black, Hispanic, and White males convicted under federal sentencing guides. Criminal Justice Review, 22, 133-156.
32. Heckman, J.J. (1974). Shadow prices, market wages, and labor supply. Econometrics, 42, 679-694.
33. Hedges, L.V., & Olkin, I. (1985). Statistical methods for meta-analysis. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
34. &z.ast;Helms, R., & Jacobs, D. (2002). The political context of sentencing: An analysis of community and individual determinants. Social Forces, 81, 577-604.
35. Hofer, P.J. (2007). United States v. Booker as a natural experiment: Using empirical research to inform the federal sentencing policy debate. Criminology & Public Policy, 6, 433-460.
36. &z.ast;Holmes, M.D., Hosch, H.M., Daudistel, H.C., Perez, D.A., & Graves, J.B. (1996). Ethnicity, legal resources, and felony dispositions in two southwestern jurisdictions. Justice Quarterly, 13, 11-30.
37. &z.ast;Huang, W.S.W., Finn, M.A., Ruback, B.R., & Friedmann, R.R. (1996). Individual and contextual influences on sentence lengths: Examining political conservatism. The Prison Journal, 76, 398-419.
38. *Iles, G.D. (2006). America's forgotten paradise: An assessment of sentencing decisions and outcomes in the United States Virgin Islands (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nebraska, Omaha, 2006). Dissertation Abstracts International, 67, 2329.
39. *Johnson, B.D. (2006). The multilevel context of criminal sentencing: Integrating judge- and county-level influences. Criminology, 44, 259-298.
40. Kant, I. (1965). The metaphysical elements of justice. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill.
41. *Kautt, P.M. (2000). Separating and estimating the effects of the federal sentencing guidelines and the federal mandatory minimums: Isolating the sources of racial disparity (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nebraska, Omaha, 2000). Dissertation Abstracts International, 61, 2048.
42. &z.ast;Kautt, P.M., & Spohn, C. (2002). Crack-ing down on Black drug offenders? Testing for interactions among offenders' race, drug type, and sentencing strategy in federal drug sentences. Justice Quarterly, 19, 1-35.
43. &z.ast;Kempf-Leonard, K., & Sample, L.L. (2001). Have federal sentencing guidelines reduced severity? An examination of one circuit. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 17, 111-144.
44. &z.ast;Klein, S., Petersilia, J., & Turner, S. (1990). Race and imprisonment decisions in California. Science, 247, 812-816.
45. Kramer, J.H., & Steffensmeier, D. (1993). Race and imprisonment decisions. Sociological Quarterly, 34, 357-376.
46. Kramer, J.H., & Ulmer, J.T. (1996). Sentencing disparity and departures from guidelines. Justice Quarterly, 13, 81-106.
47. &z.ast;Kruttschnitt, C. (1980-81). Social status and sentences of female offenders. Law & Society Review, 15, 247-265.
48. *Landes, W. (1974). Legality and reality: Some evidence on criminal procedure. Journal of Legal Studies, 3, 287-337.
49. Lipsey, M.W., & Wilson, D.B. (1993). The efficacy of psychological, education, and behavioral treatment: Confirmation from meta-analysis. American Psychologist, 48, 1181-1209.
50. Loftin, C., Heumann, M., & McDowall, D. (1983). Mandatory sentencing and firearms violence: Evaluating an alternative to gun control. Law & Society Review, 17, 287-318.
51. &z.ast;Miethe, T.D., & Moore, C.A. (1985). Socioeconomic disparities under determinate sentencing systems: A comparison of pre-guideline and post-guideline practices in Minnesota. Criminology, 23, 337-363.
52. Mitchell, O. (2005). A meta-analysis of race and sentencing research: Explaining the inconsistencies. Journal of Quantitative Research, 21, 439-466.
53. Morris, H. (1968). Persons and punishment. Monist, 52, 475-501.
54. Murphy, J.G., & Coleman, J.L. (1990). Philosophy of law: An introduction to jurisprudence. Boulder, CO: Westview.
55. *Mustard, D.B. (2001). Racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in sentencing: Evidence from the U.S. federal courts. Journal of Law and Economics, 44, 285-314.
56. *Myers, M.A. (1988). Social background and the sentencing behavior of judges. Criminology, 26, 649-675.
57. &z.ast;Myers, M.A. (1989). Symbolic policy and the sentencing of drug offenders. Law & Society Review, 23, 295-316.
58. &z.ast;Myers, M.A., & Talarico, S.M. (1986). The social contexts of racial discrimination in sentencing. Social Problems, 33, 236-251.
59. Myers, M.A., & Talarico, S.M. (1987). The social contexts of criminal sentencing. New York: Springer.
60. &z.ast;Nagel, I.H., & Hagan, J. (1982). The sentencing of white-collar criminals in federal courts: A socio-legal exploration of disparity. Michigan Law Review, 80, 1427-1465.
61. Nobiling, T., Spohn, C., & DeLone, M. (1998). A tale of two counties: Unemployment and sentence severity. Justice Quarterly, 15, 459-485.
62. *Pasko, L. (2002). Villain or victim: Regional variation and ethnic disparity in federal drug offense sentencing. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 13, 307-328.
63. &z.ast;Peterson, R.D., & Hagan, J. (1984). Changing perceptions of race: Towards an account of anomalous findings of sentencing research. American Sociological Review, 49, 56-70.
64. Pratt, T.C. (1998). Race and sentencing: A meta-analysis of conflicting empirical research results. Journal of Criminal Justice, 26, 513-523.
65. Rosenthal, R. (1984). Meta-analytic procedures for social research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
66. *Simon, L.M.J. (1996). The effect of the victim-offender relationship on the sentence length of violent offenders. Journal of Crime and Justice, 19, 129-148.
67. &z.ast;Sloan, J.J., & Miller, J.L. (1990). Just deserts, the severity of punishment and judicial sentencing decisions. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 4, 19-38.
68. &z.ast;Smith, B.L., & Damphousse, K.R. (1996). Punishing political offenders: The effect of political motive on federal sentencing decisions. Criminology, 34, 289-322.
69. Spitzer, S. (1975). Toward a Marxist theory of deviance. Social Problems, 22, 638-651.
70. &z.ast;Spohn, C. (1990). The sentencing decisions of Black and White judges: Expected and unexpected similarities. Law & Society Review, 24, 1197-1216.
71. Spohn, C. (2000). Thirty years of sentencing reform: The quest for a racially neutral sentencing process. In J. Horney (Vol. Ed.), Criminal justice 2000: Vol. 3. Policies, processes, and decisions of the criminal justice system (pp. 427-501). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Program, National Institution of Justice.
72. Spohn, C., & Beichner, D. (2000). Is preferential treatment of female offenders a thing of the past? A multisite study of gender, race, and imprisonment. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 11, 149-184.
73. &z.ast;Spohn, C., & DeLone, M. (2000). When does race matter? An examination of the conditions under which race affects sentence severity. Sociology of Crime, Law, and Deviance, 2, 3-37.
74. Spohn, C., & Holleran, D. (2000). The imprisonment penalty paid by young, unemployed Black and Hispanic male offenders. Criminology, 38, 281-306.
75. Spohn, C., & Sample, L.L. (in press). The dangerous drug offender in federal court: Intersections of race, ethnicity, and culpability. Crime and Delinquency.
76. &z.ast;Spohn, C., & Spears, J.W. (1996). The effect of offender and victim characteristics on sexual assault case processing decisions. Justice Quarterly, 13, 649-679.
77. &z.ast;Spohn, C., & Spears, J.W. (2003). Sentencing of drug offenders in three cities: Does race/ethnicity make a difference? In D. F. Hawkins, S. L. Myers, Jr., & R. N. Stone (Eds.), Crime control and social justice: The delicate balance (pp. 197-231). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
78. &z.ast;Steen, S., Engen, R.L., & Gainey, R.R. (2005). Images of danger and culpability: Racial stereotyping, case processing, and criminal sentencing. Criminology, 43, 435-468.
79. Steffensmeier, D., & Britt, C.L. (2001). Judges' race and judicial decision making: Do Black judges sentence differently? Social Science Quarterly, 82, 749-764.
80. &z.ast;Steffensmeier, D., & Demuth, S. (2000). Ethnicity and sentencing outcomes in U.S. federal courts: Who is punished more harshly? American Sociological Review, 65, 705-729.
81. &z.ast;Steffensmeier, D., & Demuth, S. (2001). Ethnicity and judges' sentencing decisions: Hispanic-Black- White comparisons. Criminology, 39, 145-178.
82. &z.ast;Steffensmeier, D., & Demuth, S. (2006). Does gender modify the effects of race-ethnicity on criminal sentencing: Sentences for male and female White, Black, and Hispanic defendants. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 22, 241-261.
83. Steffensmeier, D., & Hebert, C.G. (1999). Women and men policymakers: Does the judge's gender affect the sentencing of criminal defendants? Social Forces, 77, 1163-1196.
84. Steffensmeier, D., Kramer, J.H., & Streifel, C. (1993). Gender and imprisonment decisions. Criminology, 31, 411-446.
85. &z.ast;Steffensmeier, D., Kramer, J.H., & Ulmer, J.T. (1995). Age differences in sentencing. Justice Quarterly, 12, 583-602.
86. &z.ast;Steffensmeier, D., & Motivans, M. (2000). Older men and older women in the arms of criminal law: Offending patterns and sentencing outcomes. Journal of Gerontology, 55B, S141-S151.
87. Steffensmeier, D., Ulmer, J.T., & Kramer, J.H. (1998). The interaction of race, gender, and age in criminal sentencing: The punishment cost of being young, Black, and male. Criminology, 36, 763-798.
88. Sweeney, L.T., & Haney, C. (1992). The influence of race on sentencing: A meta-analytic review of experimental studies. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 10, 179-195.
89. Turner, G.S., & Champion, D.J. (1989). The elderly offender and sentencing leniency. In S. Chaneles & C. Burnett (Eds.), Older offenders: Current trends (pp. 125-140). New York: Haworth.
90. Ulmer, J.T. (2000). The rules have changed-so proceed with caution: A comment on Engen and Gainey's method for modeling sentencing outcomes under guidelines. Criminology, 38, 1231-1243.
91. &z.ast;Ulmer, J.T., & Bradley, M.S. (2006). Variation in trial penalties among serious violent offenses. Criminology, 44, 631-670.
92. &z.ast;Ulmer, J.T., & Johnson, B.D. (2004). Sentencing in context: A multilevel analysis. Criminology, 42, 137-177.
93. &z.ast;Ulmer, J.T., & Kramer, J.H. (1996). Court communities under sentencing guidelines: Dilemmas of formal rationality and sentencing disparity. Criminology, 34, 383-408.
94. United States Sentencing Commission (2007). Guidelines manual. Washington, DC: Author.
95. Wellford, C.F. (2007). Sentencing research for sentencing reform. Criminology & Public Policy, 6, 399-402.
96. &z.ast;Wheeler, S., Weisburd, D., & Bode, N. (1982). Sentencing the white-collar offender: Rhetoric and reality. American Sociological Review, 47, 641-659.
97. Wilbanks, W. (1988). Are elderly felons treated more leniently by the criminal justice system? International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 26, 275-288.
98. *Williams, M.R. (1999). Gender and sentencing: An analysis of indicators. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 10, 471-490.
99. &z.ast;Wilmot, K.A., & Spohn, C. (2004). Prosecutorial discretion and real-offense sentencing: An analysis of relevant conduct under the federal sentencing guidelines. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 15, 324-343.
100. Wilson, D.B. (2001). Meta-analytic methods for criminology. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 578, 71-89.
101. *Wooldredge, J.D. (1998). Analytic rigor in studies of disparities in criminal case processing. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 14, 155-179.
102. &z.ast;Wooldredge, J.D. (2007). Neighborhood effects on felony sentencing. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency, 44, 238-263.
103. &z.ast;Wooldredge, J.D., & Thistlethwaite, A. (2004). Bilevel disparities in court dispositions for intimate assault. Criminology, 42, 417-456.
104. &z.ast;Wu, J., & Spohn, C. (in press). Inter-district disparity in sentencing in three U.S. district courts. Crime and Delinquency.
105. *Zatz, M.S. (1984). Race, ethnicity, and determinate sentencing: A new dimension to an old controversy. Criminology, 22, 147-171.