Lantz Brendan, Wenger Marin R, Craig Chloe J
Florida State University.
University of Texas at Austin.
Soc Probl. 2023 May;70(2):297-320. doi: 10.1093/socpro/spab043. Epub 2021 Sep 8.
A substantial body of research focuses on racial disparity in the criminal justice system, with mixed results due to difficulty in disentangling differential offending from racial bias. Additionally, some research has demonstrated that victim characteristics can exacerbate racial disparity in outcomes for offenders, but little research has focused on the arrest stage. We use a quasi-experimental approach that examines incidents involving co-offending pairs to isolate the influence of offender race on arrest, beyond any characteristics of the incident itself, and we test for moderating effects of victim race and sex on racial disparities in arrest. Our findings reveal that, on average, when two offenders of different races commit the same offense together against the same victim, Black offenders are significantly more likely to be arrested than their White co-offending partners, especially for assault offenses. More importantly, this effect-for both assaults and homicides-is particularly strong when the victim is a White woman. Because these differences are between two offenders who commit the same offense together, we argue that the most plausible explanation for the differences is the presence of racial bias or discrimination.
大量研究聚焦于刑事司法系统中的种族差异，由于难以区分不同的犯罪行为与种族偏见，研究结果不一。此外，一些研究表明，受害者特征会加剧罪犯量刑结果中的种族差异，但很少有研究关注逮捕阶段。我们采用准实验方法，研究涉及共同犯罪的事件，以分离出罪犯种族对逮捕的影响，排除事件本身的任何特征影响，并且我们测试受害者种族和性别对逮捕中种族差异的调节作用。我们的研究结果显示，平均而言，当两名不同种族的罪犯共同对同一受害者实施相同犯罪时，黑人罪犯比其白人共同犯罪伙伴更有可能被逮捕，尤其是在攻击犯罪中。更重要的是，当受害者是白人女性时，这种影响——在攻击犯罪和杀人犯罪中——尤为强烈。由于这些差异存在于共同实施相同犯罪的两名罪犯之间，我们认为造成这些差异最合理的解释是存在种族偏见或歧视。
