An Extremist by Any Other Name: Case Outcomes and Gender, Race and Mental Health Status

Research output: Contribution to conferencePresentation

Abstract

Presentation given at the American Society of Criminology Conference.

This study uses the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) to quantitatively examine the influence of race, gender, and mental health on Criminal Justice System (CJS) outcomes for extremists and terrorists. Extremists are often viewed as inherently different from other offenders due to the politically charged environment that their crimes occur in, demonstrated by the dramatic political shift that took place after 9/11. This creates the potential for differential patterns of disparity in the CJS for extremists compared to other perpetrators, because ideologically motivated violent crimes often generate considerable media attention and a “charged” political context for legal decision-makers. This research also investigates whether race and gender interact to demonstrate different variances in outcomes between men of colour and white men, versus women of colour and white women. This project extends past research by using the ECDB data to examine initial case outcomes as well as later case outcomes, which may both differ from each other and differ from the substantive importance they play in the perception of the utility of certain types of extremists. Overall, the present study expands the scientific literature on extremism and contributes to knowledge about the factors that influence discretionary legal decisions in the criminal justice system.
Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - Nov 20 2021
EventAmerican Society of Criminology Conference - Chicago, IL
Duration: Nov 20 2021 → …

Conference

ConferenceAmerican Society of Criminology Conference
Period11/20/21 → …

Disciplines

  • Social and Behavioral Sciences
  • Sociology
  • Criminology

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