Groups punish their own deviant members more harshly to protect group reputation.

Evidence

In some cases, however, social identity theory predicts harsher judgments for in-group members. For example, the “black sheep” hypothesis suggests that people will punish in-group members more harshly because their behavior reflects poorly on the in-group, and fellow in-group members will want to distance themselves from the in-group member who has committed a crime (Marques, Yzerbyt, & Leyens, 1988). — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 857

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s study of group solidarity — the black sheep effect shows in-group loyalty expresses via punishing deviants, not leniency, complicating primordial-solidarity models. — connects to: Status groups punish fraudulent pretenders more harshly than ordinary members. — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 233; High glorifiers minimize and deflect their own group’s atrocities. — Bernhard Leidner et al., Ingroup Glorification, Moral…, 26
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 857