Revisiting Hubert Blalock's power threat theory to determine its effect on court workgroup behavior as it concerns structured sentencing

摘要

Though introduced in the 1960s, Hubert Blalock's power threat theory is revisited to help analyze case decisions made by court workgroups in the southern state of North Carolina. The theory provides context and perspective to better explain subtle attempts of the majority to effect social control of minority groups in general and of powerful minority groups in particular through disparate treatment that manifests in longer prison sentences.