Year: 1999
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: In the light of a more punitive stance in Corrections and public \ndiscontent with the criminal justice system, a number of studies have \nbeen conducted since 1970 testing public punitiveness, probably in an \nattempt to determine whether sentences laid down by courts are in \nline with public perceptions on just deserts. \nThis study combines two scales: The first a Likert scale measuring \npunitiveness as such and the second a "Just Deserts" scale testing \npublic reactions in terms of imprisonment for crime descriptions. \nBy using Pearson's correlation, no positive correlation could be \nestablished between these two scales. Profiles of the top and bottom \n15% scorers on both scales showed that the scales were, if anything, \nnegatively related. \nThis information is informative in the sense that opinion polls \nshowing public discontentment with sentencing cannot be seen as a \ntrue reflection of their reactions to more descriptive cases.
Author: Charles Edwin Oliver
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W371397890