Researcher Profile - Qi Chen
Qi Chen
Equality and diversity in criminal sentencing
Qi Chen is a Assistant Professor in Criminology in the School of Sociology and Social Policy.
I endeavour to promote a more balanced and inclusive sentencing approach for marginalised social groups.
How would you explain your research?
I'm a criminologist. My research looks at whether defendants from different race, ethnicity, gender, age and socio-economic backgrounds are treated the same in criminal sentencing. In England and Wales, sentencing is a highly regulated process. Judges and magistrates have to follow mandatory guidelines when passing a sentence. The guidelines are published by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. They require sentencers to follow a stepped approach in sentencing.
The first step is to evaluate the 'seriousness' of the offence based on the harm caused and the culpability of the offender. The level of seriousness determines the starting point of the sentence. For instance, a very serious street robbery might have a starting point of eight years imprisonment according to the current guideline. Depending on the aggravating and mitigating circumstances in a specific case, the sentencer might decide to increase the sentence to 12 years or decrease the sentence to seven years.
The stepped approach is designed to minimise disparities. It is based on the rationale that offences with a similar level of seriousness shall get similar sentences. However, existing research suggests that there are racial disparities in criminal sentencing. I'm interested in why this is the case. Is it because of judicial biases? Or is it because of the flaws in sentencing guidelines?
In a recent study (in collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire), I reviewed the sentencing guidelines for theft, robbery and harassment offences. It finds that some mitigating factors in the sentencing guidelines need to be rephrased. The way they are written at the moment might have rendered them less applicable to ethnic minorities and offenders from disadvantaged backgrounds. I gave recommendations to the Sentencing Council based on the findings. The Council has decided to rephrase some of the mitigating factors in more inclusive ways, for example, what counts as ‘remorse’ and what counts as ‘exemplary conduct’.
It is worth noting that disparities in sentencing are not always bad. Sometimes differential treatment might be necessary for the sake of justice. For example, sentencers may want to take more caution when sentencing sole carers (they can be females or males) to prison, due to the collateral damage the sentence might cause. My research also looks at whether differential treatment is granted when the circumstances in a case demand so.
What inspired you to pursue this area?
About 11 years ago, I did my PhD on community sanctions and measures in China. As part of the PhD project, I went back to China to investigate when Chinese judges would suspend a prison sentence. The findings suggest that migrant workers were far less likely to receive suspended sentences compared to locals. On many occasions, they ended up with a prison sentence not because they have committed very serious crimes, but because they often do not have a permanent residence, therefore deemed as not suitable for community supervision. This was when I realised there is much going on in criminal sentencing that is not really about crime but about the personal circumstances of offenders. I continued research in this area.
Now I’m looking at the data, policies and practices both in the UK and in China. There are a lot of interesting insights that can be drawn from the comparison, for example, how pregnant women are treated by sentencers in the two jurisdictions.
How will your research affect the average person?
I think criminal sentencing is a very important stage in the criminal justice process. A fair sentence increases the public’s confidence in the criminal justice system. At the moment there are a lot of discussions about racism in criminal justice both in the media and in academic research. However, the problem is more nuanced than it seems, and racial factors are often intertwined with other factors such as socio-economic status and gender. Just blanketly labelling the system as racist is not going to help build public confidence or address real problems.
My research helps people understand how sentencing really works in practice, what are the possible contributing factors to undesired disparities, and what can be done concretely to reduce such disparities. The research could also help people who are subject to criminal trials. I endeavour to promote a more balanced and inclusive sentencing approach for marginalised social groups.
How does your research influence your teaching?
At the moment I am convening the first-year core module Introduction to the Criminal Justice ‘System’ in England and Wales. I teach my students how criminal sentencing works and what are the key challenges facing sentencers in this module. I encourage them to think about what a ‘fair’ sentence would look like, what are the barriers to imposing a fair sentence in some cases, and how can these barriers be removed by changing laws, policies and practices.
What's been the greatest moment of your career so far?
The Sentencing Council for England and Wales recently published the report written by me and my research partners. The report, Equality and Diversity in the Work of the Sentencing Council, includes 27 recommendations on how to make sentencing fairer for defendants from varying backgrounds. Most of the recommendations have been accepted by the Council. It is really exciting to see research making a real policy impact.
What's the biggest challenge in your field?
Lack of most up-to-data data about criminal sentencing. In China, criminal judgements are published openly online so data are readily available. In the UK, data resources are more limited.
What advice would you give to someone considering an undergraduate degree in sociology?
Go for it. They will definitely enjoy it. Criminology is a fascinating subject to study. It has a lot to do with our daily life, and there are a lot of interesting sub-areas to explore, for example, sentencing, probation, organised crime, victimology, policing, terrorism, digital crime, etc. My colleagues in the criminology team are absolutely fantastic in what they do. Check our course out!