Putting the offender back into sentencing: An empirical study of the public's understanding of personal mitigation

Abstract

In recent times judicial sentencing has become harsher. This is in response, at least in part, to the public's apparent view of mitigation personal to the offender as of little importance, particularly in serious cases. Recent research on factors seen by the public as mitigating is consistent with this. But perhaps humanity in sentencing would emerge if people were given detailed information about cases and felt they were dealing with a real person, and that their responses were important? The present study tested this. Judges presented four actual cases, involving six offenders, to over 470 participants in 32 groups around Victoria, Australia. The participants responded by discussing the ju..