TY - JOUR
T1 - Individual and contextual influences on sentence lengths
T2 - Examining political conservatism
AU - Huang, Wilson S.
AU - Finn, Mary A.
AU - Ruback, Barry R.
AU - Friedmann, Robert R.
PY - 1996
Y1 - 1996
N2 - This study examined the impact of legal, extralegal, and contextual variables on prison sentence lengths for violent felons sentenced in Georgia from 1981 to 1989. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted for all violent crimes and separately for four types of violent crime: murder and manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. Results indicated that the legally relevant factors-seriousness of the crime and number of convictions-had the strongest influence on sentence lengths. Across most violent crimes, male, older, and better-educated offenders received longer sentences than those without such characteristics. Political conservatism had a positive effect on sentence lengths for overall violent crime, robbery, and aggravated assault. Interaction effects for political conservatism and the number of convictions were significant, indicating that sentence length increased disproportionately as a court's conservatism and the felon's number of convictions increased. Findings suggest that political conservatism is an important contextual feature affecting prison sentence length.
AB - This study examined the impact of legal, extralegal, and contextual variables on prison sentence lengths for violent felons sentenced in Georgia from 1981 to 1989. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted for all violent crimes and separately for four types of violent crime: murder and manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery. Results indicated that the legally relevant factors-seriousness of the crime and number of convictions-had the strongest influence on sentence lengths. Across most violent crimes, male, older, and better-educated offenders received longer sentences than those without such characteristics. Political conservatism had a positive effect on sentence lengths for overall violent crime, robbery, and aggravated assault. Interaction effects for political conservatism and the number of convictions were significant, indicating that sentence length increased disproportionately as a court's conservatism and the felon's number of convictions increased. Findings suggest that political conservatism is an important contextual feature affecting prison sentence length.
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U2 - 10.1177/0032855596076004003
DO - 10.1177/0032855596076004003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0000948123
SN - 0032-8855
VL - 76
SP - 398
EP - 419
JO - Prison Journal
JF - Prison Journal
IS - 4
ER -
