The Influence of Afrocentric Facial Features in Criminal Sentencing

TLDR

Prior research indicates that within a racial category, individuals with more Afrocentric facial features are presumed to possess stereotypic traits associated with Black Americans compared to those with less Afrocentric features. This study examined whether such feature-based stereotyping influences criminal sentencing. The authors analyzed a random sample of inmate records, comparing sentences for Black and White inmates with equivalent criminal histories. Within each race, inmates with more Afrocentric features received harsher sentences, revealing that facial-feature-based stereotyping persists even after racial-category bias has been mitigated.

Abstract

Prior research has shown that within a racial category, people with more Afrocentric facial features are presumed more likely to have traits that are stereotypic of Black Americans compared with people with less Afrocentric features. The present study investigated whether this form of feature-based stereotyping might be observed in criminal-sentencing decisions. Analysis of a random sample of inmate records showed that Black and White inmates, given equivalent criminal histories, received roughly equivalent sentences. However, within each race, inmates with more Afrocentric features received harsher sentences than those with less Afrocentric features. These results are consistent with laboratory findings, and they suggest that although racial stereotyping as a function of racial category has been successfully removed from sentencing decisions, racial stereotyping based on the facial features of the offender is a form of bias that is largely overlooked.