NCJ Number
209861
Journal
Criminal Justice Studies: A Critical Journal of Crime, Law and Society Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2005 Pages: 7-28
Date Published
March 2005
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study tested the assumptions of minority group-threat theory through empirical analysis of the prosecute/dismiss decision.
Abstract
Minority group-threat theory holds that as the relative size of a minority group in a community grows so too will the level of discrimination experienced by the minority group. Thus, according to this view, as minority groups such as Blacks and Hispanics grow in number and influence, the criminal justice response to these groups will become increasingly punitive. The current study tested this assumption by examining prosecutorial decisions to dismiss or prosecute in 31 criminal cases drawn from 3 electronic databases. Results indicated that although there was some evidence supportive of the minority group-threat theory, much of the evidence contradicted the theory. However, limitations of the data prevented a rigorous test of minority group-threat theory and the author suggests that future research should test the assumptions of this theory in small to medium-sized cities and should include multiple layers of criminal justice processing since racial discrimination may not be equally dispersed across all criminal justice processing points. Tables, notes, cases, references