The public sense of justice in Scandinavia: A study of attitudes towards punishments

Flemming Balvig; Helgi Gunnlaugsson; Kristina Jerre; Henrik Tham; Aarne Kinnunen

doi:10.1177/1477370815571948

The public sense of justice in Scandinavia: A study of attitudes towards punishments

Flemming Balvig, Helgi Gunnlaugsson, Kristina Jerre, Henrik Tham, Aarne Kinnunen

JUR Forskningscenterområdet - fordelingssted

22 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

Crime policy is increasingly legitimized by reference to the public sense of justice. A research project has therefore been conducted in all five Scandinavian countries in order to examine the public’s views on punishment. These views have been examined by means of simple questions in telephone interviews, by vignettes in postal questionnaires, and by focus groups having seen a film of a mock trial. The results show that, when asked simple questions, the public want stiffer sentences. In their assessments of the vignette crimes, the public demands on average lower prison sentences than judges, and this tendency becomes stronger in the focus group study. The propensities towards punitiveness seem to diminish with more information and increasing proximity to the parties involved.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	European Journal of Criminology
Vol/bind	12
Udgave nummer	3
Sider (fra-til)	342-361
Antal sider	20
ISSN	1477-3708
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370815571948
Status	Udgivet - 14 maj 2015

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10.1177/1477370815571948

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title = "The public sense of justice in Scandinavia: A study of attitudes towards punishments",

abstract = "Crime policy is increasingly legitimized by reference to the public sense of justice. A research project has therefore been conducted in all five Scandinavian countries in order to examine the public{\textquoteright}s views on punishment. These views have been examined by means of simple questions in telephone interviews, by vignettes in postal questionnaires, and by focus groups having seen a film of a mock trial. The results show that, when asked simple questions, the public want stiffer sentences. In their assessments of the vignette crimes, the public demands on average lower prison sentences than judges, and this tendency becomes stronger in the focus group study. The propensities towards punitiveness seem to diminish with more information and increasing proximity to the parties involved.",

author = "Flemming Balvig and Helgi Gunnlaugsson and Kristina Jerre and Henrik Tham and Aarne Kinnunen",

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T1 - The public sense of justice in Scandinavia

T2 - A study of attitudes towards punishments

AU - Balvig, Flemming

AU - Gunnlaugsson, Helgi

AU - Jerre, Kristina

AU - Tham, Henrik

AU - Kinnunen, Aarne

PY - 2015/5/14

Y1 - 2015/5/14

N2 - Crime policy is increasingly legitimized by reference to the public sense of justice. A research project has therefore been conducted in all five Scandinavian countries in order to examine the public’s views on punishment. These views have been examined by means of simple questions in telephone interviews, by vignettes in postal questionnaires, and by focus groups having seen a film of a mock trial. The results show that, when asked simple questions, the public want stiffer sentences. In their assessments of the vignette crimes, the public demands on average lower prison sentences than judges, and this tendency becomes stronger in the focus group study. The propensities towards punitiveness seem to diminish with more information and increasing proximity to the parties involved.

AB - Crime policy is increasingly legitimized by reference to the public sense of justice. A research project has therefore been conducted in all five Scandinavian countries in order to examine the public’s views on punishment. These views have been examined by means of simple questions in telephone interviews, by vignettes in postal questionnaires, and by focus groups having seen a film of a mock trial. The results show that, when asked simple questions, the public want stiffer sentences. In their assessments of the vignette crimes, the public demands on average lower prison sentences than judges, and this tendency becomes stronger in the focus group study. The propensities towards punitiveness seem to diminish with more information and increasing proximity to the parties involved.

U2 - 10.1177/1477370815571948

DO - 10.1177/1477370815571948

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1477-3708

VL - 12

SP - 342

EP - 361

JO - European Journal of Criminology

JF - European Journal of Criminology

IS - 3

ER -

The public sense of justice in Scandinavia: A study of attitudes towards punishments

Abstract

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