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Paper Abstract: Discusses this controversial aspect of the criminal justice system. Factors contributing to variations in sentencing. Contends severity in sentencing varies in relation to offender's prior conviction, to the homicide rate. Increased public anxiety over rising crime rates. Mandatory minimum sentencing laws and three-strike laws. Paper Introduction: SENTENCING SEVERITY AS A FUNCTION OF PRIOR CONVICTIONS AND THE HOMICIDE RATE Introduction The issue of sentencing severity is a highly controversial aspect of the criminal justice system. On an anecdotal level, the severity of sentences applicable to similar offenses frequently appears to vary in relation to (1) offender race or ethnicity, (2) victim race or ethnicity, (3) public anxiety associated with crime rates, (4) criminal justice jurisdiction, and (5) judicial prerogative. Research studies, however, frequently tend to link sentence severity with offense type and offenders’ criminal records (Rothman & Powers, 1994). The relationship of variations in sentencing severity to demographic or social factors not directly related to criminal o Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. References Engen, R. Conclusion The literature reviewed provides some degree of support for each ofthe hypotheses proposed for this study. Engen and Steen (2 1) found that sentencing severity increased inrelation to the implementation of mandatory minimum sentencing laws. Existing research reported in theliterature provide little support for the existence of a casualrelationship between homicide rates and sentencing severity for alloffenses. AmericanJournal of Sociology, 1 5(5), 1357-1377. These approaches run the gamut from to useof punishment and sentencing procedures as a deterrent to the commission ofanti-social behaviors to the use of community involvement as a means ofreducing the frequencies of anti-social behaviors (Rothman & Powers, 1994). Individual and contextual influences on sentence lengths:examining political conservatism. Again, existing studies in the literature both providesupport, and find an absence of support for each of the several approaches. (1996,December). This paper focuses on selected literature that isrelevant to two preliminary hypotheses. Hofer, Blackwell, and Ruback (1999) found that offense type andoffenders' criminal histories provided the strongest explanations ofvariations in sentencing severity. This rationale explains in partmandatory minimum sentencing laws and three-strike laws (Hofer, Blackwell,& Ruback, 1999). (1999, Fall). J., Blackwell, K. PublicInterest (116), 3-17. W., Finn, M. Exceptions exist in relation to first offense sentences, ofcourse, in relation to the severity of the offense. (1994, Summer), Execution by quota? The effectof the federal sentencing guidelines on inter-judge sentencing disparity.Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 9 (1), 329-411. Offenders' prior criminal records, as an independent variable,conceptually should be strong predictors of sentencing severity. R. Severity in sentencing varies positively in relation tooffenders' records of prior convictions. Severity in sentencing varies positively in relation tooffenders' records of prior convictions. A., Ruback, B., & Friedman, R. The second broad group of theoretical studies emphasizes therelationship between the control of social behaviors and reductions in thefrequency of occurrence of anti-social behaviors. It may be preferable to consider the overall crime rate as anexplanatory variable for sentencing severity. These findings,however, provide only limited support for hypothesis two proposed for thisstudy that a positive relationship exists between sentencing severity andthe homicide rate. S. Engen and Steen (2 1), however,also found that, over time, discrepancies increased between arrest offenseand trial offense, as plea bargains increasingly led to reductions in thecharges brought to trial. The relationship of variations in sentencing severity to demographicor social factors not directly related to criminal offenses leading tosentencing is both unfair to offenders and societally disruptive (Engen &Steen, 2 ). The rationale underlying the first hypothesis is that sentencingseverity. These findings provide support for hypothesis one proposedfor this study that a positive relationship exists between sentencingseverity and offenders' records of prior convictions. This approach, whilehighly popular among the public and conservative politicians, has littlesupport in sociological or criminal justice research (Rothman & Powers,1994). Socialrelationships as well as social perceptions affect the propensity of anindividual to engage in criminal behavior (Rothman & Powers, 1994). The proposed hypotheses are asfollows: 1. Research studies, however,frequently tend to link sentence severity with offense type and offenders'criminal records (Rothman & Powers, 1994). Hofer, P. Rothman, S., & Powers, S. The power to punish. Criminologists have long associated the commission of crime with theopportunity for the commission of such acts. Huang, W. Social relationships often determine whether or not an individualwill have an opportunity to participate in criminal activity, and whetheror not an individual will be encouraged in such behavior. More andmore people appear to be coming to the view that behavior termed criminallydeviant by the so-called establishment is socially acceptable in their owncircles. Bothjudges and juries tend to be more lenient with first time offender thanwith multiple offenders. There study not only found apositive relationship between sentencing severity and offenders' priorcriminal records, they also found disproportionate increases in sentencingseverity associated with increases in offenders' records of priorconvictions. On an anecdotal level, the severity ofsentences applicable to similar offenses frequently appears to vary inrelation to (1) offender race or ethnicity, (2) victim race or ethnicity,(3) public anxiety associated with crime rates, (4) criminal justicejurisdiction, and (5) judicial prerogative. There also is arelatively widespread perception that increasing public anxiety related torising crime rates, especially violent offenses such as homicide, lead toincreasing severity in sentences. Theliterature reviewed, however, indicates that the link between these twovariables is weak. Within this group ofstudies, there is a wide variety of approaches put forward as means ofcontrolling social behaviors. Huang, Finn, Ruback, and Friedman (1996) found that the gravity of theoffense and an offender's record of prior convictions were the strongest ofthe factors explaining sentence severity. The perception is widespread that the criminal justice system ismore lenient with first offenders than with repeat offender. L., & Steen, S. This finding provided support forhypothesis one proposed for this study that a positive relationship existsbetween sentencing severity and offenders' records of prior convictions.Hofer, Blackwell, and Ruback (1999) also found, however, that sentencingseverity increased through the enactment of laws related to mandatoryminimum sentences and three-strike laws, while the relative importance ofoffense type and offenders' criminal histories remained unchanged. To the extent that increases in the homicide rate motivate increasesin mandatory minimum sentencing, increases in the homicide rate, as anindependent variable, can be a predictor of sentencing severity. This paper develops preliminary information to supportresearch examining the issue of factors contributing to variations insentencing severity. R., & Ruback, R. Literature Review Most of the theoretical studies devoted to the discovery of ways toreduce levels of criminal behavior emphasize one of two general ways toattack the problem. Theselatter findings provide support for hypothesis two proposed for this studythat a positive relationship exists between sentencing severity and thehomicide rate, as a prime motivator for the enactment of laws related tomandatory minimum sentences and three-strike laws was public perception ofrising crime rates, especially homicide rates. (2 , March). Severity in sentencing varies positively in relation to thehomicide rate regardless of the offense. Existing studies in the literature both provide support for eachapproach, and find an absence of support for each of the approaches.Further, within the general area of the control of social behaviors, theseveral different approaches to such control advanced cannot be divorcedfrom one another. In the contemporary period,however, there appears to be a stronger tendency on the part of an everlarger proportion of the population to engage in any activity, criminal ornot, that provides them with some degree of pleasure at almost any time.One reason that a growing proportion of the population appears to befindings criminal behavior an acceptable alternative to non-criminalbehavior is the continuing socialization of criminal deviancy. One school of thought holds that stiff penalties should be levied againstoffenders, as a deterrent to both repetition of the behavior by theoffenders, and as a deterrent to non-offenders. 2. This latter finding undercut the support forhypothesis two proposed for this study. 2. These preliminary hypotheses areas follows: 1. Thisfinding provided support for hypothesis two proposed for this study that apositive relationship exists between sentencing severity and the homiciderate, as a prime motivator for the enactment of laws related to mandatoryminimum sentences and three-strike laws was public perception of risingcrime rates, especially homicide rates. Statement on Variable Recoding It may be necessary (or at least desirable) to recode the homiciderate variable for hypothesis two. Thethrust of these theories is that eliminating the underlying causes of anti-social behaviors will, in turn, either eliminate the behaviors themselvesor significantly reduce their frequencies of occurrence (Rothman & Powers,1994). sentencing severity as a function of prior convictions and the homicide rate Introduction The issue of sentencing severity is a highly controversial aspect ofthe criminal justice system. First, there are those theories holding that societymust address effectively the underlying causes of anti-social behaviors(poverty, injustices-perceived or real, and so forth), in order to reducethe frequency of anti-social behaviors by any significant degree. Prison Journal, 76(4), 398-419. Severity in sentencing varies positively in relation to thehomicide rate regardless of the offense. The rationaleis that offenders who do not learn a lesson on their first experience withthe criminal justice system deserve more severe sentences for subsequentoffenses. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.