Impact of Race on the Adjudication of Sexual Assault and Other Violent Crimes

• NCJ Number: 203563
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 31 Issue: 6 Dated: November/December 2003 Pages: 523-538
• Author(s): Christopher D. Maxwell; Amanda L. Robinson; Lori A. Post
• Editor(s): Kent B. Joscelyn
• Date Published: November 2003
• Length: 16 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether sexual assault was treated differently throughout the entire adjudication process compared to other violent crimes and whether case processing outcomes of sexual assault were moderated by race, as a conflict variable.

Abstract

Prior research on sexual assault in analyzing the process of different crimes has cast doubt on the assumption that sexual assault is universally treated more leniently compared to other types of violent crimes, at least for sentencing dispositions. In addition, past research has pointed to the importance of race as an explanatory variable for the differential leniency and differential punitiveness that is possible for minority defendants charged with sexual assault. This study attempted to assess whether sexual assault offenders were differently adjudicated from other violent felons and to what extent any differences in adjudication decisions were explained by the defendant’s race. The source of data for this study was the National Pretrial Reporting Program (NPRP) which included 5 court decisions analyzed using a sample of 41,151 cases adjudicated between 1990 and 1996. Findings indicate that those arrested for sexual assault are on average treated more punitively compared to those arrested for assault or robbery, and more leniently compared to those arrested for murder. In regards to the defendant’s race, the study indicated that for violent crimes, minorities were generally treated more leniently compared to Whites. However, a pattern of more punitive treatment of minorities compared to Whites emerged for violent crimes other than sexual assault. The results indicate that sexual assault cases are unique because they are the only violent crime that shows a pattern of criminal justice adjudication and sanctioning that is more lenient toward minority defendants. References