Jo, E., & Park, J. (2021). Difference in the Judgment of Homicide by Offender’s Ethnicity and Gender (In Korean). Korean Criminological Review, 32(4), 63-90.

Abstract

The present study investigated whether people’s judgment of homicide offender punishment differed by offender ethnicity and offender gender. We examined if the effect of offender ethnicity and offender gender on the judgment of offender punishment was mediated by the people’s perceived level of offender responsibility, and if the mediation effect was influenced by the people’s level of authoritarian personality. Based on a sample of 275 people(138 males, 137 females) aged between 20 and 59, the study showed that offender gender did not have an effect on the judgment of offender punishment, but offender ethnicity did. In other words, people’s judgment of homicide offender punishment was higher for an ethnic Korean offender in China than a Korean offender. Additionally, for people with strong authoritarian personality, judgment of offender responsibility was higher for an ethnic Korean offender in China than a Korean offender, and the level of punishment was evaluated higher for an ethnic Korean offender in China than a Korean offender. Lastly, we discussed the implications of the results of this study on the discrimination against foreigners.

key words: homicide, ethnic Korean in China, women, punishment judgment, authoritarian personality