Analytical and Aggregation Biases in Analyses of Imprisonment: Reconciling Discrepancies in Studies of Racial Disparity

Abstract

The literature on racial disparities in criminal justice processing is unclear about whether Black defendants are treated differently from White defendants. Although some studies find no difference in treatment, others report that Blacks are treated significantly more harshly than Whites; still other studies find that Black defendants are treated more leniently. This analysis examines three methodological procedures: (1) the selection of single or multiple points in the criminal justice system for study, (2) the number of jurisdictions included in studies, and (3) the level of aggregation of aggregation of jurisdictions used in studies of racial disparities. The authors conclude that some of the ambiguity reported in this literature can be traced to studies of single or few jurisdictions, single decision points in criminal justice processing, and to inappropriate aggregation.