Indigenous Status and Sentencing: Tentative Theoretical Explanations for Disparity

Abstract

This paper briefly summarises1 findings from a South Australian study that examined whether Judges' decisions to sentence offenders to imprisonment differed between Indigenous and non-Indigenous offenders when they appeared before the court under similar circumstances. Results showed that Indigenous offenders were less likely than their non- Indigenous counterparts to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment when appearing before the court under seemingly similar circumstances. Focal concerns (attribution) perspectives are used to explore these findings.