Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

PDF

Criminals

Social and Behavioral Sciences

2000

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Law

Victimless Crime: A Comparison Of Public Offense Ratings Of Misdemeanor Offenses And Virginia Sentencing Guidelines, Theresa M. Dutton Jul 2000

Victimless Crime: A Comparison Of Public Offense Ratings Of Misdemeanor Offenses And Virginia Sentencing Guidelines, Theresa M. Dutton

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study was designed to explore the hypothesized gap between what state guidelines on criminal sanctioning recommend for misdemeanor offenses, and what the public perceives· as just punishment for these offenses. The research also addresses the issue of victimless crime. In this regard it was additionally hypothesized that there exists a significant difference in public opinion towards sentencing those crimes that specifically do not have a victim, with those that do.

The design of this study is based on one conducted by Peter Rossi and Richard Berk (Rossi and Berk 1997). For this study, a sample of students attending college …