Location
University of Nevada Las Vegas, Greenspun Hall (first & second floor lobby)
Description
The United States and China represent two of the leading nations that retain the death penalty in both law and practice. Research suggests that judges’ sentencing decisions are based primarily on two factors, blameworthiness and dangerousness. Studies involving gender and sentencing in capital punishment cases tend to provide inconsistent findings. The current study uses case narratives to examine the direct and conjunctive effects of various factors on the sentencing decisions of violent female capital offenders in the United States and China. The findings suggest that the concepts of blameworthiness and dangerousness are distinctly defined in the United States and China. The study proposes that the differences observed in the capital offense sentencing practices of these two countries can be attributed to the distinct political, legal and social systems of the United States and China.
Keywords
Blame; China; Death penalty; Sentencing disparity; United States; Violent crimes; Women offenders
Disciplines
Criminal Law | Criminology and Criminal Justice | Law Enforcement and Corrections | Women's Studies
Language
English
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons, Women's Studies Commons
Blameworthiness and dangerousness: An analysis of violent female capital offenders in the United States and China
University of Nevada Las Vegas, Greenspun Hall (first & second floor lobby)
The United States and China represent two of the leading nations that retain the death penalty in both law and practice. Research suggests that judges’ sentencing decisions are based primarily on two factors, blameworthiness and dangerousness. Studies involving gender and sentencing in capital punishment cases tend to provide inconsistent findings. The current study uses case narratives to examine the direct and conjunctive effects of various factors on the sentencing decisions of violent female capital offenders in the United States and China. The findings suggest that the concepts of blameworthiness and dangerousness are distinctly defined in the United States and China. The study proposes that the differences observed in the capital offense sentencing practices of these two countries can be attributed to the distinct political, legal and social systems of the United States and China.
Comments
First place winner of the graduate research symposium.