Racial Prejudice and Support for the Death Penalty by Whites

Barkan, Steven E.; Cohn, Steven F.

doi:10.1177/0022427894031002007

Cited by 179 publications

(177 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…A legal death penalty is likely in states with the most black residents (Jacobs and Carmichael 2002). Findings that public support for capital punishment is associated with black presence and racial prejudice (Barkan and Cohn 1994;Soss, Langbein, and Metelko 2003) This relationship may not be linear (Blalock 1967). Theory suggests that whites will make greater demands for punitive measures after expansions in black presence.…”

Section: MI In No Ormentioning

confidence: 99%

Vigilantism, Current Racial Threat, and Death Sentences

2005

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Capital punishment is the most severe punishment, yet little is known about the social conditions that lead to death sentences. Racial threat explanations imply that this sanction will be imposed more often in jurisdictions with larger minority populations, but some scholars suggest that a tradition of vigilante violence leads to increased death sentences. This study tests the combined explanatory power of both accounts by assessing statistical interactions between past lynchings and the recent percentage of African Americans after political conditions and other plausible effects are held constant. Findings from count models based on different samples, data, and estimators suggest that racial threat and lynchings combine to produce increased death sentences, but the presence of liberal political values explains the absence of death sentences. These findings both confirm and refine the political version of conflict theory because they suggest that the effects of current racial threat and past vigilantism largely directed against newly freed slaves jointly contribute to current lethal but legal reactions to racial threat.

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Section: MI In No Ormentioning

confidence: 99%

Vigilantism, Current Racial Threat, and Death Sentences

2005

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“…Using data from the General Social Survey, Barkan and Cohn (1994) examined the answers of White respondents to questions regarding their fear of crime, dislike of Blacks, and racial stereotyping. They found that support for the death penalty was positively associated with racial stereotyping and hostility towards Blacks.…”

Section: Racial Bias In the Penalty Phase Of Capital Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing racial bias in the penalty phase of capital trials

Shaked-Schroer

Costanzo

Marcus‐Newhall

2008

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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Past research (e.g. Lynch & Haney, 2000) has shown that race plays a significant role in juror decision making in the penalty phase of capital murder trials. This study investigates the possibility of reducing juror bias towards Blacks by altering the content of jury instructions. White and non-White participants received trial information and jury instructions in which the defendant's race (Black or White) and the instruction type (standard or simplified) were manipulated. Participants rendered a sentence recommendation, identified factors they considered to be aggravating or mitigating, and responded to instruction comprehension questions. Bias against the Black defendant was significantly reduced when simplified instructions were used and when the defendant was judged by racially diverse jurors. Simplification also led to better comprehension of sentencing instructions. Implications for capital trials are discussed.

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“…Several authors have postulated that racial prejudice is a likely predictor of racial disparities in the application of death sentences (Cohn et al, 1991;Ford, 1997). Many studies have found that the greater the racial prejudice among Whites, the greater the support for the death penalty (Aguirre and Baker, 1993;Barkan and Cohn, 1994;Ford, 1997). However, the reason why racial prejudice is significantly related to support for the death penalty (SDP) still remains relatively unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Relationship Between Racial Prejudice and Support for the Death Penalty: The Racist Punitive Bias Hypothesis

Dambrun

2007

Soc Just Res

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Many studies have shown that there are significant racial disparities in the application of death penalties. In this paper, three studies (N = 484, 94% female), conducted in France, test and explore why racial prejudice and support for the death penalty (SDP) are strongly and positively related. First, prejudice against Arabs remains a significant predictor of SDP, even when ethnocentrism/authoritarianism (Study 1) and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA; Study 2) are statistically controlled. Second, the attribution of criminal traits to Arabs (Study 1) or criminality-based prejudice (Studies 2 and 3) significantly mediates the relationship between racial prejudice and SDP. Finally, a path analysis illustrates that two relatively independent processes could explain the relationship between prejudice towards Arabs and SDP: criminality-based prejudice leading to specific SDP for Arabs and Social Dominance Orientation (Study 3). Together, these results provide support for the racist punitive bias hypothesis. When racist people think about questions of crime and punishment, they frame the issue in racial terms, leading them to support a punitive law which in their minds will mainly punish minority racial groups.

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Racial Prejudice and Support for the Death Penalty by Whites

Cited by 179 publications

References 24 publications

Vigilantism, Current Racial Threat, and Death Sentences

Vigilantism, Current Racial Threat, and Death Sentences

Reducing racial bias in the penalty phase of capital trials

Understanding the Relationship Between Racial Prejudice and Support for the Death Penalty: The Racist Punitive Bias Hypothesis

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