![Sample our Health and Social Care journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5938/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Health-Social-Care.jpg"})
ABSTRACT
The processing time (the number of days between the date a case is filed and the date it is disposed) in a criminal justice system is a function of many variables, including the personal and social characteristics of the offender. We hypothesized that the processing time, other things being equal would be a function of (a) psychopathology, (b) gender, and (c) ethnic background of the offender. Analysis of the data dealing with 5,989 offenders, sampled from a metropolitan area criminal justice system, corroborated the hypothesized relationships: (a) Blacks had significantly (p = .0001) longer processing time than Whites, (b) men had significantly (p = .01) longer processing time than women, and (c) mentally disordered offenders had significantly (p = .04) longer processing time than a comparison group of general offenders.