{"id":{"repo_id":"utc","oai_identifier":"oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1712"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/utc/oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1712","repository":{"repo_id":"utc","name":"University of Tennessee - Chattanooga","base_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"A comparative look of sentencing outcomes based on the defendant's country of citizenship","abstract":"In the wake of negative stereotypes of immigrants from lower status countries, this study used federal sentencing data for 2015 to examine the effects of the defendant’s country of citizenship on sentence outcomes. Although the United States Sentencing Commission has long stipulated that national origin isn’t a relevant factor in determining sentence, a growing body of sentencing research has found evidence that a defendant’s country of citizenship continues to influence sentence outcome. Findings of the current study revealed partial support that national origins do matter. Specifically, after controlling for a number of legally relevant, case processing and extralegal factors, defendants from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and Middle-East/North Africa were found to receive more favorable sentences than those given to their Mexican counterparts. However, a second model that compared the Mexican region to all other regions failed to reach statistical significance. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.","abstract_html":"In the wake of negative stereotypes of immigrants from lower status countries, this study used federal sentencing data for 2015 to examine the effects of the defendant’s country of citizenship on sentence outcomes. Although the United States Sentencing Commission has long stipulated that national origin isn’t a relevant factor in determining sentence, a growing body of sentencing research has found evidence that a defendant’s country of citizenship continues to influence sentence outcome. Findings of the current study revealed partial support that national origins do matter. Specifically, after controlling for a number of legally relevant, case processing and extralegal factors, defendants from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and Middle-East/North Africa were found to receive more favorable sentences than those given to their Mexican counterparts. However, a second model that compared the Mexican region to all other regions failed to reach statistical significance. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ridley, Whitney"],"institution":"University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Iles, Gale D.","Bumphus, Vic; McGuffee, Karen","College of Arts and Sciences"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:46:51Z","subjects":["Crime and race -- United States","Criminal justice, Administration of -- United States","Discrimination in criminal justice administration -- United States"],"languages":["English","eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/545","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Iles, Gale D.","Bumphus, Vic; McGuffee, Karen","College of Arts and Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ridley, Whitney"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2018-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Masters theses","Text"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Crime and race -- United States","Criminal justice, Administration of -- United States","Discrimination in criminal justice administration -- United States"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/545"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Dept. of Criminal Justice and Legal Assistant Studies","M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In the wake of negative stereotypes of immigrants from lower status countries, this study used federal sentencing data for 2015 to examine the effects of the defendant’s country of citizenship on sentence outcomes. Although the United States Sentencing Commission has long stipulated that national origin isn’t a relevant factor in determining sentence, a growing body of sentencing research has found evidence that a defendant’s country of citizenship continues to influence sentence outcome. Findings of the current study revealed partial support that national origins do matter. Specifically, after controlling for a number of legally relevant, case processing and extralegal factors, defendants from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and Middle-East/North Africa were found to receive more favorable sentences than those given to their Mexican counterparts. However, a second model that compared the Mexican region to all other regions failed to reach statistical significance. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A comparative look of sentencing outcomes based on the defendant's country of citizenship"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Iles, Gale D.","Bumphus, Vic; McGuffee, Karen","College of Arts and Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Ridley, Whitney"],"dc:date":["2018-05-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["Dept. of Criminal Justice and Legal Assistant Studies","M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science."],"dc:description.abstract":["In the wake of negative stereotypes of immigrants from lower status countries, this study used federal sentencing data for 2015 to examine the effects of the defendant’s country of citizenship on sentence outcomes. Although the United States Sentencing Commission has long stipulated that national origin isn’t a relevant factor in determining sentence, a growing body of sentencing research has found evidence that a defendant’s country of citizenship continues to influence sentence outcome. Findings of the current study revealed partial support that national origins do matter. Specifically, after controlling for a number of legally relevant, case processing and extralegal factors, defendants from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and Middle-East/North Africa were found to receive more favorable sentences than those given to their Mexican counterparts. However, a second model that compared the Mexican region to all other regions failed to reach statistical significance. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed."],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/545"],"dc:language":["English","eng"],"dc:publisher":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"],"dc:relation":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"],"dc:rights":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en"],"dc:subject":["Crime and race -- United States","Criminal justice, Administration of -- United States","Discrimination in criminal justice administration -- United States"],"dc:title":["A comparative look of sentencing outcomes based on the defendant's country of citizenship"],"dc:type":["Masters theses","Text"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:46:51Z"}