Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-9-2007
Abstract
This brief essay reviews the contributions that social psychology is making the debate among criminal law theorists on the proper principle for the distribution of criminal liability and punishment. Included are a discussion of suggestions that deterrence may be ineffective as a distributive principle, that incapacitation of dangerous persons may be effective but might be more effective if pursued through a detention system distinct from the criminal justice system, and that desert as a distributive principle, ironically, might be the most effective for controlling crime. Available for download at http://ssrn.com/abstract=956130
Keywords
criminal liability, punishment, deterrence, distributive principle, incapacitation of dangerous persons, desert, crime control
Publication Title
Law and Psychology: Current Legal Issues
Repository Citation
Robinson, Paul H., "How Psychology is Changing the Punishment Theory Debate" (2007). Faculty Scholarship. 132.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/132
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons, Social Psychology Commons
Publication Citation
9 Law and Psychology: Current Legal Issues 2006 94-104