Effects of defendant age on severity of punishment for different crimes.
After reading a murder or theft vignette in which the perpetrator was a 20-, 40-, or 60-year-old man, 95 undergraduates gave sentence and parole recommendations. Punishment was harsher for the murder than for the theft. For murder, participants treated the 20- and 60-year-old men less harshly than the 40-year-old man, which confirms previous archival findings. However, this inverted U-shaped function occurred for murder only. The authors discussed the results in the context of the just-desert and utilitarian rationales that guide sentencing and gave suggestions for future research.
Bergeron
Christine E
CE
Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Lennoxville, Québec, Canada.
McKelvie
Stuart J
SJ
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003416:Criminal Law / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003417:Criminal Psychology; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006708:Homicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011678:Punishment; D011792:Quebec; D012941:Social Responsibility; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013800:Theft / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology