Volume 31, Number 4, 319-335, DOI: 10.1007/s10979-006-9060-x

Transgression Wrongfulness Outweighs its Harmfulness as a Determinant of Sentence Severity

Adam L. Alter, Julia Kernochan and John M. Darley

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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.

Keywords  Psychology - Sentencing - Criminal law

This article represents the personal views of the authors and does not represent the views of any institutions with which they are or have been affiliated.

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