Social worlds of sentencing : court communities under sentencing guidelines / Jeffery T. Ulmer.

By:

Ulmer, Jeffery T, 1966-

Material type: Text

TextSeries: SUNY series in new directions in crime and justice studiesPublication details: Albany : State University of New York Press, �1997.Description: 1 online resource (xi, 233 pages)Content type:

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

0585076154
9780585076157

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Electronic books.

Additional physical formats: Print version:: Social worlds of sentencing.DDC classification:

345.73/0772 21

LOC classification:

KF9685 .U43 1997eb

Other classification:

86.43

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

1. Courts, Sentencing, and Sentencing Guidelines -- 2. Court Communities as Social Worlds -- 3. Data and Analytical Strategy -- 4. Statewide Sentencing Outcomes -- 5. Metro County -- 6. Rich County -- 7. Southwest County -- 8. Conclusion: Court Communities and Sentencing under Guidelines -- App. A. Pennsylvania Sentencing Guidelines -- App. B. Examples of Interview Questions by Topic -- App. C. Descriptive Statistics: Variables in State-wide Analysis.

Review: "Many states and the federal system have embraced sentencing guidelines as a mechanism of sentencing reform. This book draws from interactionist theories of organizations and James Eisenstein's depiction of courts as communities to frame an investigation of sentencing disparity, case processing, and organizational relations under Pennsylvania's sentencing guidelines. The author provides a statistical analysis of statewide sentencing outcomes and a comparative statistical and ethnographic analysis of three different-sized county courts. The statistical data show that the major influences on sentencing are legally prescribed ones, but that factors such as conviction by trial, race and gender, and court size are also significant. Ethnographic data illuminate processes behind the statistics by connecting court organizational contexts to case processing strategies, and these strategies to sentencing outcomes. The book concludes with twelve general propositions for future research, discussing possibilities and limitations of sentencing guidelines, and addressing broader issues in the sociology of crime, law, and organizations."--Jacket.

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Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-227) and index.

Print version record.

"Many states and the federal system have embraced sentencing guidelines as a mechanism of sentencing reform. This book draws from interactionist theories of organizations and James Eisenstein's depiction of courts as communities to frame an investigation of sentencing disparity, case processing, and organizational relations under Pennsylvania's sentencing guidelines. The author provides a statistical analysis of statewide sentencing outcomes and a comparative statistical and ethnographic analysis of three different-sized county courts. The statistical data show that the major influences on sentencing are legally prescribed ones, but that factors such as conviction by trial, race and gender, and court size are also significant. Ethnographic data illuminate processes behind the statistics by connecting court organizational contexts to case processing strategies, and these strategies to sentencing outcomes. The book concludes with twelve general propositions for future research, discussing possibilities and limitations of sentencing guidelines, and addressing broader issues in the sociology of crime, law, and organizations."--Jacket.

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