Transgression wrongfulness outweighs its harmfulness as a determinant of sentence severity.
Law Hum Behav
; 31(4): 319-35, 2007 Aug.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17268827
ABSTRACT
When students suggest sentences for criminal offenders, do they rely more heavily on the harmfulness or on the wrongfulness of the offender's conduct? In Study 1, 116 Princeton University undergraduates rated the harmfulness and wrongfulness of, and suggested appropriate sentences for, a series of crimes. As expected, participants emphasized wrongfulness when choosing an appropriate criminal punishment. In Study 2, 33 Princeton undergraduates made similar ratings for violations of the University Honor Code, and rated their contempt for fabricated amendments to the Code that required sentencers to focus either only on harmfulness or only on wrongfulness. Again, sentences more closely reflected wrongfulness ratings, and participants were more contemptuous of the harmfulness-based proposal. We also consider the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for sentencing laws and policy.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Punição
/
Crime
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Law Hum Behav
Ano de publicação:
2007
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos