NCJ Number
89552
Journal
Criminology Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1983) Pages: 233-252
Date Published
1983
Length
20 pages
Annotation
The empirical evidence on the determinants of sentencing outcomes has been increasingly utilized in debates on the nature of sentencing.
Abstract
Often the characterization of the impact of a variable as 'appropriate' or 'inappropriate' is controversial, and consequently there is wide disagreement as to the meaning of disparity. This article presents a method of clarifying this debate by developing aggregate measures of disparity. The value of such aggregate measures is illustrated using data from California. The exemplary models suggest that, given relevant data sets, it is possible to develop viable measures of disparity and that an estimation of the extent of disparity is highly dependent on normative beliefs about disparity. (Publisher abstract)