This research used qualitative methods to investigate the police officer decision-making processes within the theoretical context of the focal concerns framework and the theory of planned behavior. This research had two primary goals. The first goal was to determine what similarities and differences exist in how ideas from the focal concerns framework manifest themselves in a policing context as compared to how they operate for judges when sentencing convicted offenders. The second goal of this research was to use ideas from the theory of planned behavior to elaborate the focal concerns framework into a functional theoretical model of police officer decision-making. While intuitively sound, the focal concerns perspective is in need of conceptual enhancements to operationalize the mechanisms through which the focal concerns identified are transformed into action. Interviews with police officers were conducted to elicit the considerations that police officers see as important to their decision-making process in order to develop a theory of police decision-making which incorporates concepts from the focal concerns framework and the theory of planned behavior. The results of this study indicate that although police officers share the same broad focal concerns as judges, the way these concerns manifest themselves in the execution of their duties is different for police officers. The results also indicate that the construct of intent from the theory of planned behavior may be a viable cognitive mechanism to connect ideas from the focal concerns framework with criminal justice outcomes, although other constructs from the theory were only found to be partially applicable. Theoretical implications of the findings and directions for future research are also discussed.

Although clemency is often an offender's final prospect to avoid execution within the death penalty context, prior research concerning clemency decisions remains limited by the fact that it is often atheoretical and researchers have used data more than a decade old. This study specifically placed clemency decisions within a focal concerns framework and examined death row inmates who were either executed or granted clemency between 1984 and 2008. This study used logistic regression as its primary modeling technique to examine whether measures of focal concerns theory were predictive of clemency decisions. While the current measures for offender blameworthiness and protection of the community were not found to influence clemency decisions, practical constraints and consequences measured by political factors and regional location along with offender characteristics were found to predict such decisions. Female offenders, non-white offenders, and offenders with lower educational levels were most likely to be granted clemency. Whereas lame duck governors were more likely to grant clemency, governors in southern states were less likely to grant clemency. The odds of clemency were reduced with each year an offender served.

Inledning: Den skapade bilden av att invandrare skulle vara farligare än den infödda populationen i landet riskerar leda till en undermedveten strukturell diskriminering som genomsyrar det västerländska samhället och således även rättssystemet. Tidigare forskning har visat att etniska minoriteter utsatts för negativ särbehandling vid såväl polisens ingripande som vid domstolens beslut. Denna särbehandling kan tänkas leda till en förlust av rättssystemets legitimitet och därmed till en ökad brottslighet i samhället. Som teoretiskt ramverk för problemet användes social conditioning theory och focal concerns theory. Syfte: Att undersöka huruvida det bland svenska juriststudenter förekommer negativ särbehandling av etniska minoriteter. Metod: En enkätstudie genomfördes på totalt 210 juriststudenter från fyra universitet i Sverige. Enkäten bestod av två fallbeskrivningar med åtta frågor till respektive fallbeskrivning. Av urvalet fick 104 studenter läsa om gärningsmän med typiskt skandinaviska namn och 106 studenter fick läsa om gärningsmän med typiskt arabiska namn. Mann Whitney-U test genomfördes mellan respondenterna som läst om skandinaviska respektive arabiska gärningsmän. Därtill undersöktes Spearmans rangkorrelation mellan respondenternas attityder till våldsbrott. Resultat: Vid grov misshandel uppfattades gärningsmannen med arabiskt namn vara farligare för samhället än gärningsmannen med skandinaviskt namn. Vidare fanns tendenser till att respondenterna undermedvetet uppfattade gärningsmannen med arabiskt namn som mer förekommande vid rån än gärningsmannen med skandinaviskt namn. Diskussion: Respondenterna visade tendenser till undermedvetna fördomar om etniska minoriteter, men lät inte dessa fördomar påverka det valda straffet. Resultatet visar att stereotypa fördomar kan finnas på ett undermedvetet plan, vilket torde kunna leda till negativ särbehandling i vissa situationer när det kommer till domstolsfrågor. Resultaten är i linje med tidigare forskning och studiens teoretiska ramverk, men påvisar samtidigt den komplexitet som ligger bakom problemet. / <p>2016-06-01</p>

Den föreliggande studien syftade till att undersöka hur förövares- samt brottsoffers könstillhörighet samvarierar med strafflängd för individer dömda för grov misshandel.  Granskning av domar efter lagändringen den första juli 2017 där grov misshandel var det primära brottet genomfördes för att samla in data för jämförelse mellan män och kvinnor som förövare samt brottsoffer. Totalt användes 100 domar till analyserna med 61 manliga och 39 kvinnliga förövare. Det översiktliga resultatet indikerade att strafflängd inte samvarierade med vare sig förövarens eller brottsoffrets könstillhörighet när dessa undersöktes separat. Det återfanns däremot en signifikant samvariation för sammansättningarna av förövarens och offrets könstillhörighet och strafflängd. Skillnad återfanns endast mellan gruppen med kvinnliga förövare och manliga offer och gruppen med kvinnliga förövare och kvinnliga offer. Vid stratifiering för om fler brott än grov misshandel har påverkat straffvärdet samt för om förövaren tidigare var dömd återstod däremot inte denna skillnad. Resultatet diskuterades utifrån tidigare forskning samt teorierna Focal concerns och Paternalism/Chivalry theory, med fokus på grov misshandel som ett könsnormativt brott samt de metodologiska begränsningarna med den föreliggande studien. / The present study aimed to examine how the gender of perpetrators and victims of aggravated assault relates to the length of prison sentences. Data was collected to compare male and female perpetrators and victims from sentences where aggravated assault was the primary offense, after the change in legislation the first of July 2017. A total of 100 cases were included in the analysis with 61 male and 39 female perpetrators. In summary the result indicated that the length of the prison sentence did not relate to the gender of perpetrators or victims when examined separately. However, a significant result was found between perpetrator and victim gender constitution and the length of sentences. The difference was only found between the group with female perpetrators and male victims and the group with female perpetrators and female victims. The effect did not remain when stratifications were made regarding additional crimes besides aggravated assault affecting sentencing length and for prior convictions. The results are discussed in view of prior research, Focal concerns and Chivalry/Paternalism theory, with focus on aggravated assault as a gender normative crime together with the methodological limitations of the current study.

Föreliggande studie undersökte skillnader i straffrättsliga beslut och skillnader i hur olika rättsliga faktorer värderas för män och kvinnor i Sverige som begått samma typ av brott. En enkät med en vinjett av ett fiktivt misshandelsbrott där en förövares kön manipulerades mellan två versioner av enkäten, besvarades av 220 personer bestående av domare (n=68), nämndemän (n=61) och juriststudenter (n=91) från 12 olika län i Sverige. Huvudresultatet visade att män rekommenderas signifikant längre fängelsestraff än kvinnor med en skillnad på 1,5 års fängelsestraff. Resultatet indikerade också att oavsett om en man eller en kvinna ger en straffrekommendation skiljer sig inte rekommendationerna, och inga interaktionseffekter mellan kön på respondenten och kön på förövaren kunde säkerställas. Vidare visade resultatet att en kvinnlig förövare värderades signifikant lägre på rättsliga faktorer än en manlig förövare. Resultatet diskuterades utifrån tidigare forskning och teori och särskilt betonades vikten av att arbeta aktivt mot helt objektiva bedömningar inom rättssystemet, inte minst för att kunna arbeta brottsförebyggande då längre fängelsestraff resulterar i högre återfall i kriminalitet. / The present study examined differences regarding sentencing outcomes and how legal factors are valued for men and women who committed the same crime in Sweden. A questionnaire with a fictitious assault case, where the perpetrator's gender was manipulated between the two versions of the questionnaire was completed by 220 participants, consisting of judges (n = 68), the Swedish counterpart of a jury (n = 61) and law students (n = 91) from 12 different regions in Sweden. The main result showed that men were recommended significantly longer sentences than women, with a difference of 1.5 years of imprisonment. The result indicated that whether a man or woman handed down a sentence recommendation, the recommendations did not differ and there were no interaction effects between the participant’s gender and the gender of the perpetrator. The result further showed that a female perpetrator is valued significantly lower on legal factors than males. The result is discussed in view of previous research and theory, and emphasizes the importance of working actively towards a completely objective judicial judgment in order to prevent crime, as longer prison sentences result in a greater propensity to recidivism.

Master of Arts / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / L. Susan Williams / Building upon macrostructural “social threat” (Blalock, 1967) research, the current study develops a theoretical model of judicial decision-making processes that focuses upon racial threats perceived within individual court contexts and the corresponding effects on individual sentencing outcomes. This model recognizes that in the absence of a true-measure of a defendant’s threat to the community (likelihood to re-offend) judicial decision makers often rely upon stereotypical generalizations regarding offender populations to render decisions. Although actors develop biases and stereotypes through interactions with society in general, the most relevant knowledge affecting sentencing decisions is perceptions gained through the course of work. Similar to the influential “Pygmalion in the Classroom” study, biases and stereotypes regarding the criminality of groups of criminal defendants are pervasive in contemporary society, undoubtedly influencing sentencing outcomes. Therefore, the most meaningful measurement of threat, as it pertains to sentencing, is the contextual composition of court caseloads. Using data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics-State Court Processing Statistics (SCPS) program, this study examines court-contextual or caseload level threats and the interaction between courtroom context and individual offense/offender characteristics and the corresponding impact on sentencing outcomes. Findings demonstrate that courts of high minority defendant volume apply more punitive sanctions to (increased sentence length and odds of incarceration) to all defendants within this context, while black defendants receive the greatest sanctions. These findings support assertions regarding the impact of threatening populations within courtroom contexts.

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Legitimacy is a necessary precondition for a well-functioning judicial system and it can be achieved in a variety of ways. One way of achieving legitimacy, that the Swedish legislator has chosen, is to constitute a system where lay judges work alongside professional judges in the Swedish courts. Lay participation in the courts are thought to fulfill many purposes and one of them is that they are expected to add new knowledge and additional perspectives to the courts. In other words, the Swedish legislator expect the lay judges to have opinions that, if not contrast then at least, complement the opinions of the professional judge. Nevertheless, previous research on Swedish judgements has found that the four members of the court are completely unanimous in about 95% of the judgments in criminal matters that the Swedish district courts delivers. By conducting a survey study this thesis shows that Swedish lay judges and professional judges has differing opinions in a number of matters that, according to the focal concerns theory, influence their sentencing decisions. The results of the study also show that lay judges, in comparison to the professional judges, are more prone to advocate for imprisonment if the perpetrator is deemed guilty. Furthermore, by combining earlier research and theories on the subject, the thesis proposes an explanation to why such a high level of consensus can be observed in the delivered judgements. Lastly, the thesis discusses what implications the study’s results have on the arguments that the Swedish legislator use to justify Sweden’s system of lay judges.