The Routledge Handbook of Criminal Justice Ethics by Jacobs Jonathan A. Jackson Jonathan & Jonathan Jackson

Author:Jacobs, Jonathan A.,Jackson, Jonathan & Jonathan Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published: 2017-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

III Fundamental retribution errors

As we have seen, punishment appears to be an intuitive response to moral transgressions (Darley 2009). Given that intuitive folk reasoning has been shown to produce various errors of judgment, the following concern arises: Does folk reasoning lead us to make fundamental retribution errors? On retribution’s own terms, establishing an error of judgment is difficult. That’s because the retributive justification is facially indifferent to punishment’s effects—so there is no empirical criterion against which to judge outcomes. Also, the only remaining criterion by which to judge the appropriateness of retributive punishment—whether punishment is commensurate with a crime—is vague and very difficult if not impossible to assess with an acceptable degree of confidence. Nevertheless, if it can be shown that punishment severity is influenced by factors wholly irrelevant to any reasonable assessment of proportional deserts, this would constitute persuasive evidence of fundamental retribution errors (Dripps 2003). The following research showing how irrelevant factors can influence judgments of punishment provides such evidence.

Relying on evidence that the cognitive process underlying moral disgust stems from physical disgust, researchers hypothesized that moral judgment could be affected by taste perception. In a study testing this idea, participants were given a sweet beverage, a bitter beverage, or water and then asked to rate a variety of moral transgressions. Results showed that there was a relationship between taste and moral judgments—specifically, physical disgust elicited significantly greater feelings of moral disgust. In a similar study, researchers sprayed a nearby trash can with commercially available fart spray to induce disgust in their participants (Schnall et al. 2008). Investigators found that participants exposed to strong and mild stink conditions made harsher judgments on a variety of moral transgressions (e.g., sex between first cousins) than did participants in a no-spray condition.

Using the framework of terror management theory, which posits that reminders of mortality cause individuals to invest in and defend their cultural beliefs, the effect of mortality salience on punishment severity has been investigated in several studies. Postulating that law constitutes a central part of a judge’s worldview, one study conducted with 22 municipal court judges examined the effect of mortality salience on judgments against a transgressor (Rosenblatt et al. 1989). The judges were presented with a hypothetical defendant held on a charge of prostitution. Following a mortality salience induction, the judges imposed an average bond of $455 on the defendant, compared to an average bond of $50 from judges in the control group.

A similar study was conducted in which students were first given an assessment of their attitude toward prostitution and then asked to set a bond amount for the alleged prostitute (Rosenblatt 1989). Among those who were subjected to heightened mortality salience, only those with a relatively negative view of prostitution recommended particularly high bonds.

Factors that influence neurotransmitter levels can also affect the strength of individuals’ retaliatory responses to a perceived transgression. For example, serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in communication between brain cells, is thought to play a significant role in emotional responses to unfairness. Researchers posit that serotonin does so by modulating impulsivity via emotional regulation mechanisms.

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