Ebook: Citizenship Status, Race, Ethnicity, and Their Effects on Sentencing

Wu examines the independent effect of citizenship status and its joint effect with race/ethnicity, national origin, and geographic locations on sentencing outcomes. He studies the between-group relationship in terms of citizenship status and conflict theory as well as the within-group relationship in terms of race/ethnicity and typification theory. Findings reveal mixed support for theoretical propositions and research hypotheses, with stronger support for conflict theory than for typification theory. The double-disadvantage hypothesis is not supported. The findings regarding federal judges’ harshness in the incarceration decision while showing leniency in the probation length and prison sentence length decisions for non-citizen offenders reflect a balance between focal concerns and the enhanced social control of conflict theory.