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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Criminology and Criminal Justice

Edith Cowan University

Administration of

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Principles In Public Reasoning About Criminal Justice : Victim Vulnerability, Trust, And Offender Status, Dianne R. Mckillop Jan 2001

Principles In Public Reasoning About Criminal Justice : Victim Vulnerability, Trust, And Offender Status, Dianne R. Mckillop

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

It is popularly assumed that the public is highly punitive toward criminal offenders and that its reasoning about criminal offences is emotionally and morally based. This assumption has been challenged by social scientists who cite influences of news media and methodological flaws in empirical studies as contributing causes. Public sentiment is a basis for law and the increasing responsiveness of legislator to what is perceived to be public opinion on crime means that accurate information on enduring principles in the public's intuitive reasoning about criminal justice is vital. An initial exploratory study (N = 34) presented members of the public …


Sentencing Decisions : The Public View Of The Effects Of Consequences Of Crime, Offender Remorse And Type Of Crime, Jodie S. Wright Jan 2001

Sentencing Decisions : The Public View Of The Effects Of Consequences Of Crime, Offender Remorse And Type Of Crime, Jodie S. Wright

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The Australian justice system is based in a conventional model of justice with the aim of uniformity in sentencing. It is important to ascertain public opinion on the relevance of different factors to be taken into account at sentencing as accurately as possible, in order to provide informed public opinion which may assist policy makers in making legislation or educating the public on these matters. The current study examined the impact of varying levels of victim harm (high or low) and offender remorse (high or low) for both person and property crimes on sentencing decisions made by both male (n …