Document Detail


Transgression wrongfulness outweighs its harmfulness as a determinant of sentence severity.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  17268827     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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.
Authors:
Adam L Alter; Julia Kernochan; John M Darley
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Law and human behavior     Volume:  31     ISSN:  0147-7307     ISO Abbreviation:  Law Hum Behav     Publication Date:  2007 Aug 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2007-08-03     Completed Date:  2007-10-16     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7801255     Medline TA:  Law Hum Behav     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  319-35     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Green Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. aalter@princeton.edu
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adolescent
Adult
Crime / classification*
Data Collection
Female
Humans
Male
Punishment*
United States

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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