Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Abstract
This commentary on Zhong et al. begins by addressing the definition of remorse. It then primarily focuses on the relation between remorse and various justifications for punishment commonly accepted in Anglo-American jurisprudence and suggests that remorse cannot be used in a principled way in sentencing. It examines whether forensic psychiatrists have special expertise in evaluating remorse and concludes that they do not. The final section is a pessimistic meditation on sentencing disparities, which is a striking finding of Zhong et al.
Keywords
Criminal law, forensic psychiatry, sentencing, justifications for blame and punishment, retribution, deterrence and incapacitation, nonpaternalistic and paternalistic rehabilitation, remorse and forensic practice, restitution, judges, judicial discretion
Publication Title
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry & Law
Repository Citation
Morse, Stephen J., "Commentary: Reflections on Remorse" (2014). All Faculty Scholarship. 1602.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/1602
Included in
Applied Behavior Analysis Commons, Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms Commons, Cognitive Psychology Commons, Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, Judges Commons, Law and Psychology Commons, Psychological Phenomena and Processes Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons
Publication Citation
42 J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry & L. 49 (2014).