NCJ Number
224744
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2008 Pages: 462-478
Date Published
November 2008
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined the validity of using the total incarceration variable and whether the same factors affected the length of a jail sentence as those affecting the length of a prison sentence.
Abstract
The results offer continuing support for the need for researchers to consider using an expanded definition of the total incarceration variable when examining State-level felony sentences. Although the results are generalizable only to Midwestern County (an urban court that utilizes an indeterminate sentencing system), they supported the need to differentiate between jail and prison and that failing to do so may be misleading. Recent research has examined the use of the total incarceration variable. Researchers have traditionally grouped jail and prison as one type of sentence of incarceration and examined judicial sentencing decisions as being an in (custody) or out (probation) decision. Research that is more recent has expanded the definition of judicial sentencing to examine jail sentences separate from prison. The results from this research suggest that the factors influencing a jail sentence are different from those that influence decisions to sentence offenders to prison. The research presented in this study examined the sentence-length portion of sentencing using the expanded definition of the total incarceration variable, specifically, whether the factors that influenced the length of a prison sentence were the same as those that influenced the length of a jail sentence. Effects of extra-legal characteristics were investigated on the lengths of the sentences imposed on offenders convicted of felonies in Midwestern County. Tables, notes, and references