Abstract
AbstractResearch on perceptions of juvenile criminals has long sought to understand what drives punishment of juvenile. While some researchers argue that age influences the punishment of juvenile offenders, others argue that more severe crimes receive harsher punishments. However, in much past research, information about the juvenile and the details surrounding the crime have been manipulated, yielding inconsistent results. In this study, we manipulated age, maturity, crime severity, and offender characteristics and measured blame, sentencing recommendations, and likelihood of a guilty verdict. We expected more severe crimes would garner harsher judgments. We also expected information about the juvenile’s reasons for acting would influence judgments. Results indicate that crime severity explained the largest amount of variance in sentencing. However, age and maturity influenced judgments about blame and guilt. This study helps clarify the effects of age and maturity on punishment-related judgments by demo...
Highlights
Juvenile offenders often experience tough sanctions and adult-like punishments (Austin, Johnson, & Gregoriou, 2000; Garberg & Libkuman, 2009) and may be transferred to adult court (Redding, 2008)
While it may seem intuitive that juvenile offenders receive more leniency in the juvenile justice system, previous research has reported mixed findings
The purpose of this research was to investigate whether characteristics of the juvenile offender, such as age, maturity, and background information, are as influential as the severity of the crime in blaming and punishing the juvenile
Summary
Juvenile offenders often experience tough sanctions and adult-like punishments (Austin, Johnson, & Gregoriou, 2000; Garberg & Libkuman, 2009) and may be transferred to adult court (Redding, 2008). Alabama), what drives desires to punish juveniles is unclear. Some researchers suggest that age is influential in sentencing decisions, while others suggest that sentencing is driven by moral outrage (Darley, 2009) and the desire to deal harsh punishments to those who commit severe crimes (Carlsmith, Darley, & Robinson, 2002). We argue that crime severity predicts severe punishments above age or perceptions of a juvenile’s maturity. The purpose of this research was to investigate whether characteristics of the juvenile offender, such as age, maturity, and background information, are as influential as the severity of the crime in blaming and punishing the juvenile. Highlights Characteristics of the juvenile, such as age, maturity, and background information influenced blame and guilt, but not punishment severity.
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