Additive Effects of Certainty,Severity, and Celerity of Punishment on Judgments of Crime Deterrence Scale Value1

The certainty and severity of punishment for crimes are commonly given credence as determinants of deterrence value, whereas celerity of punishment is not. Moreover, data are sparse and divided on the question of how certainty and severity components combine algebraically. Two experiments inspected the effects of certainty, severity and celerity of hypothetical punishments on judged deterrence value, and the form of their factorial combination. Judged deterrence scale values were obtained for eight hypothetical conditions of punishment for serious crimes. These conditions of punishment consisted of orthogonal combinations of two levels each of certainty, severity, and celerity and were administered to independent subjects. Strong effects of certainty and severity and moderate effects of celerity were found, and there were no interactions among the three variables. Thus, celerity is pertinent to judged deterrence value, and the three components of punishment clearly combine additively rather than multiplicatively. It is argued that despite the empirical results, certainty, severity, and celerity must, however, ultimately be showp to combine according to a multiplying rule. The Discussion centers largely on an analysis and justification for that argument.     

Integration of Certainty,Severity, and Celerity Information in Judged Deterrence Value: urther Evidence and Methodological Equivalence1

The purposes of these studies were (a) to establish on a general basis whether 3 time-honored manipulable components of punishment combine additively, or multi-plicatively in determining the judged deterrence value of a sanction, and (b) to explore the equivalence in principle of two mutually exclusive experimental designs. Study 1 used a repeated measures design whereas main and interactive effects of certainty and severity were substantial and appeared to follow a multiplying rule, celerity effects were very small and local. Studies 2a and 3 used independent groups and established that the results of Study 1 were not merely an arbitrary product of the method. The discussion addresses the minimal effects of celerity, the interaction between certainty and severity, and the theoretical implications of choice of method.     

A qualitative study of young drivers and deterrence based road policing

Deterrence theory is the predominant theory used to underpin road policing initiatives. However, survey research indicates that this approach may not be as effective for young drivers. This study uses focus groups, conducted in both metropolitan and regional locations in two Australian states (Queensland and Victoria), to explore three components of classical deterrence theory: certainty, severity & swiftness. The results suggest that geographical context affected perceptions of certainty with individuals from regional locations less likely to indicate that they would be caught by police for committing a traffic offence. Additionally, the use of cameras to detect road offences increased perceptions of certainty for young drivers. The results of this study suggest that police agencies should focus on undertaking actions to increase the perceptions of certainty swiftness and severity of punishment, particularly in regional areas, for young drivers who engage in illegal behaviour on the road. Where appropriate, these actions should take into account the geographical context. There may also be value in considering augmenting deterrence theory with other theoretical perspectives for this group.     

Severity effect on compensation and imprisonment recommendations: Deterrence as a mediator in Singapore

Severe, compared to mild, harm results in harsher punishment. According to the model of people as intuitive prosecutors, the severity effect is a deterrence message. The authors tested this hypothesis in two studies in Singapore. In Study 1, participants learnt about the severity of harm arising from an accidental or intentional act, and expressed anger, made attributions, assigned blame, recommended compensation by and imprisonment of the offender, and indicated the degree to which they were guided by the punishment goals of deterrence and retribution. As hypothesized, the prosecutorial mindset was multidimensional, and the deterrence goal mediated the severity effect on punishment. In Study 2, the severity effect held when the punishment goal was unspecified but not when it was experimentally specified as deterrence.     

Seat Preference in the Classroom

Abstract

Observers rated 60 criminal defendants on the following four items related to attractiveness: physical attractiveness, neatness, cleanliness, and quality of dress. The four-item Attractiveness Index correlated significantly and negatively with severity of punishment (acquitted to 20 years); the correlation remained significant when seriousness of the crime was controlled. AI ratings did not predict whether the defendant was convicted or acquitted. Some racial disparities in severity of punishment were noted: Nonwhites, as compared to whites, were more conviction prone, more apt to be charged with violent crimes, and, once convicted, more likely to be sentenced.     

Deterrence of drug driving: The impact of the ACT drug driving legislation and detection techniques

Drug driving is a significant road safety concern rendering the implementation of roadside drug testing in all Australian jurisdictions. The current research sought to examine the impact of recently introduced roadside oral fluid screening in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Specifically, the study sought to examine drivers’ awareness, perceptions and perceived deterrent impact of these operations and the degree to which they influence likelihood of future drug driving. A total of 801 male and female motorists aged 17–88 years of age completed a phone interview assessing demographics (e.g., driving and drug taking history), awareness and perceived effectiveness of roadside drug testing, and constructs central to both Classical Deterrence Theory (i.e., certainty, severity, swiftness) and reconceptualised deterrence theory (direct and vicarious experiences of both punishment and punishment avoidance) frameworks. Overall, despite an apparent decline in drug driving behaviour since the introduction of roadside testing, a large proportion of driver’s possessed a poor awareness of these operations and did not perceive a high certainty of apprehension. Age, punishment avoidance and vicarious punishment avoidance were found to predict future likelihood of drug driving, whilst Classical Deterrence Theory variables did not. Contrary to expectations and previous studies, few significant differences were found with regards to gender. Findings are interpreted in light of the recency of roadside drug testing in the ACT and the need for future studies to examine the impact of such operations. Further recommendations for augmenting the deterrence of drug driving are discussed.     

Conceptualizing and Measuring Global Interpersonal Mistrust-Trust

Abstract

Global interpersonal mistrust is conceptualized as a general mistrust of the motives of others in situations related to one's well-being: a general tendency to view others as mean, selfish, malevolent, or unreliable people who are, thus, not to be depended on to treat one well. The authors developed an 18-item unidimensional self-report inventory measuring interpersonal mistrust as a negative cognitive orientation toward others. The measure comprises items describing perceptions of specific hypothetical interpersonal situations rather than items asking respondents to describe their own general behavior. The measure was reliable and evidenced construct validity in a heterogeneous sample of Australians.     

Editorial

Abstract

This study examines the communication that occurs during routine genetic counselling sessions. It involves the qualitative analysis of nine consultations with one member of a clinical genetics team.

The consultations were characterised by a contrast between the sense of certainty apparent in how the clinician talked about the power and promise of the new genetics and the uncertainty communicated regarding the actual information produced by genetic tests and their limitations in solving people's problems. There was also a contrast between how the clinician seemed to control the format and agenda of the consultation and the apparently uncontrollable personal and social implications of the topics discussed. We speculate that this may be explained in terms of the clinician giving some order and certainty in an area of inherent uncertainty, and where great promises are as yet unrealised.     

A study identifying the origins of different types of drink driving events through the lens of deterrence: Is it alcohol abuse or avoiding detection?

BackgroundWhile attempts to identify the mechanisms to effectively deter drink driving remains a central focus for road safety researchers, scant scientific enquiry has simultaneously examined perceptions of apprehension risk in combination with substance abuse. This may be considered a significant oversight given that such constructs may create opposing forces, or alternatively, alcohol abuse and punishment avoidance may create cumulative effects and promote offending behaviours.MethodThis paper reports on an investigation of 718 Queensland motorists' self-reported perceptions of classical and reconceptualised deterrence constructs (as well as alcohol consumption) in order to determine what factors have the greatest effect on promoting drink driving, particularly alcohol consumption or punishment avoidance. The sample completed an online or paper version of the questionnaire.Results“Possible” drink driving events were slightly more common (25.5%) than “acknowledged” drink driving events (16.6%). Future intentions to drink and drive (23.4%) were more common among those who reported an “acknowledged” drink driving event (63.5% reported future intentions to drink drive) than a “possible” drink driving event (47.5%). Sequential binary logistic regression models conducted for each drink driving category revealed that having “risky” drinking behaviour and both direct personal and indirect experience of punishment for a drink driving offence were predictors of “possible” drink driving events. Similarly, “acknowledged” drink driving had the same significant predictors with the addition of increases in age and punishment severity reducing the likelihood of drink driving and direct punishment avoidance having a positive effect. However, and importantly, only direct punishment avoidance and past “possible” and “acknowledged” drink driving events predicted future intentions to offend in the final model, which further reinforces that drink driving is a deliberate decision (rather than stemming primarily from impairment).Practical applications: The findings provide support for increased policing efforts to identify drink drivers.     

Can rail pedestrian violations be deterred? An investigation into the threat of legal and non-legal sanctions

Collisions between trains and pedestrians continue to be the most likely accident to result in severe injuries and fatalities on the rail network. While a range of countermeasures have been utilised in an attempt to reduce the incidence of risky behaviours at level crossings, limited focus has been directed towards deterrence-based approaches to improve crossing safety. As a result, this study explored pedestrians’ perceptions of legal and non-legal sanctions at level crossings, with particular emphasis directed towards identifying factors that maximise perceptual deterrence and reduce the occurrence of rule violations. In total, 636 individuals volunteered to participate in the study that required completion of either an online or paper version of a questionnaire that focused on behaviours and perceptions. Participants were more likely to report intentionally violating level crossing rules (24.52%, n = 156) compared to making crossing errors (3.46%, n = 22). Knowledge of the possibility of sanctions (e.g., monetary fines) was low. The threat of being injured and feeling shame when breaching crossing rules were the highest reported perceptual deterrent factors, higher even than the certainty and severity of sanctions. Regression analysis revealed that males who had lower perceptions of certainty of apprehension and displayed a tendency to repeat the behaviour were most likely to deliberately break crossing rules. However, this group also recognised the physical risks of violating rules and that it breached social norms. In regards to identifying effective countermeasures, increasing police presence was considered the most effective approach to reduce violations, which is directly linked to deterrence processes such as increasing perceptual certainty. This paper will further outline the study findings in regards to perceptual deterrence-based research as well as provide direction for future research efforts to develop effective countermeasures designed to improve pedestrian safety.     

The effects of essentialist thinking toward biosocial risk factors for criminality and types of offending on lay punishment support

This research uses experimental methods to gauge how different facets of essentialist thinking toward (1) types of offending and (2) biosocial risk factors for criminality predict lay punishment support. A randomized between-subjects experiment using contrastive vignettes was conducted with members of the general public (N = 897). Overall, as hypothesized, aspects of essentialist thinking, particularly informativeness, continuity, immutability, and discreteness, toward both biosocial risk factors and types of offending behavior generally predicted more severe punishments surrounding retribution, incapacitation, and deterrence. Yet, surprisingly, several of the same beliefs, specifically toward discreteness and informativeness, also predicted non-punitive sentiments toward restoration and decreased prison time in some contexts. This work demonstrates that essentialist thinking not only may affect how the public cognitively categorizes biosocial risk factors for criminality and types of offending, but also may have consequences for public support for the punishment of offenders with particular offense records or characteristics.     

The Stability of Preference Items

Summary

A simulation experiment was conducted to test the proposition that actors tend to attribute their behavior to environmental forces, while observers attribute the same behavior to stable dispositions of the actor. The results support this hypothesis and suggest that this tendency is not limited to blameworthy situations. Strong effects of success and failure on attributions were also found.     

Water Mist Punishment for Two Classes of Problem Behaviour

A study with multiple baseline design across situations and response-classes was used to evaluate the effects of a water mist procedure used for punishment of two classes of problem behaviour in a 50-year-old woman with severe mental retardation. Problem behaviour was reduced to less than 5% of baseline. After 19 months the problem behaviour was still reduced, and had stabilized at a level below 10% of baseline. Due to financial economies the local community authorities terminated the treatment, which resulted in a marked increase in the rate of problem behaviour.     

Real-life revenge may not effectively deter norm violations

ABSTRACT

The current article examined the characteristics of real-life revenge acts. A demographically diverse sample of avengers described autobiographical revenge acts and the preceding offense. They rated the severity of both acts, the time before taking revenge, and motives for the timing. Independent raters also rated the severity of both acts and coded the domains. Results revealed that real-life revenge is (1) by and large equally common as revealed by lab-based studies on revenge, but (2) is usually a delayed response, and (3) although similar to offenses in severity (according to independent parties), it is dissimilar in the domain. These characteristics contradict manifestations of revenge as studied in lab research (e.g., as a response that must take place immediately and in the same domain). These discrepancies suggest that not all real-life instances of revenge are optimally suited to serve a deterrence function and that other motives may underlie more destructive revenge acts.     

Coping and care-related stress in parents of a child with autism spectrum disorder

Background and Objectives: Parenting a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is challenging and can result in elevated levels of parenting stress. This study investigated the relationship between parent-ratings of their child’s ASD symptoms and two conceptually different measures of parenting stress: One specific to the ASD context and the other a general stress measure applicable to the broader caregiving context. Additionally, the influence of coping style on the relationship between child’s ASD symptoms and parenting stress was investigated.

Design and Methods: Using an internet survey, parents (N?=?178) caring for a child with ASD reported on coping strategies, completed two measures of parenting stress, and assessed their child’s ASD symptoms.

Results: Parenting stress increased with severity of the child’s ASD symptoms, but the strength of this relationship depended on whether a general or disorder-specific measure of parenting stress was used. Regression analyses indicated that some coping strategies moderated the impact of ASD symptom severity on the parent’s care-related stress, but moderation depended on how stress was conceptualized.

Conclusion: This study reinforces the importance of identifying the coping strategies of parents of children with developmental disorders, and highlights the consequences of using different conceptual approaches to measure parenting stress.     

Double trouble: restrained eaters do not eat less and feel worse

Objective: While high levels of dietary restraint do not appear to reflect actual caloric restraint, it has been found to be a risk factor for a wide array of maladaptive eating patterns. These findings raise the question what, if not caloric restriction, dietary restraint entails. We propose that the very finding that restrained eaters do not eat less than they intend to do can provide an answer. Based on this disparity between the intention to restrain oneself and actual behaviour, we therefore hypothesised that high levels of restraint are associated with eating-related guilt.

Method: Three studies (N?=?148) using unobtrusive measures of food intake; different restraint scales; and different measures of guilt tested whether restraint is related to eating-related guilt.

Results: Results indicated that restraint was not associated with food intake, but instead was associated with increased levels of guilt after eating. Guilt was explicitly related to food intake. Moreover, the observed guilt could not be attributed to a general increase in negative affect.

Conclusion: The results of these studies suggest that restraint is not an indicator of actual restricted food intake, but rather a reflection concerns about food and eating manifested in eating-related guilt.     

Testing Deterrence Theory with Offenders: The Empirical Validity of Stafford and Warr's Model

Stafford and Warr (1993) reconceptualized general and specific deterrence into a single theory in which individuals' propensities to engage in crime are based on a combination of personal and vicarious experiences with being punished and avoiding punishment. The current study extends prior tests of this conceptualization of deterrence by expanding the definition of vicarious experience, analyzing extralegal as well as legal consequences, examining multiple types of offending behavior, and drawing its data from a sample of work release facility inmates. The results fail to support legal deterrence as an explanation of offending for this sample but suggest the importance of extralegal consequences.     

Prediction of end-of-life fears in COPD – hoping for the best but preparing for the worst

Objective: The diagnosis of a life-threatening illness can trigger end-of-life fears. Early studies show that end-of-life fears play an important role in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, predictors of these fears have not yet been identified. This study investigated the relevance of socio-demographic variables, illness severity, psychological distress and disease-specific anxieties as predictors of end-of-life fears in COPD.

Design: A total of 131 COPD patients participated at two time points. Regression and mediation analyses, as well as cross-lagged panel analyses were conducted.

Main outcome measures: The participants completed questionnaires assessing end-of-life fears (Multidimensional Orientation toward Dying and Death Inventory), psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and disease-specific anxieties (COPD Anxiety Questionnaire). Pulmonary function and a 6-min walk test served as measures of illness severity.

Results: Illness severity was not predictive of end-of-life fears. However, gender and psychological distress explained incremental variance. When disease-specific anxieties were included as additional predictors, psychological distress was no longer significant. Cross-lagged panel analyses mostly supported these results. Moreover, disease-specific anxieties mediated the association between psychological distress and end-of-life fears.

Conclusion: Administration and intensity of end-of-life care (especially concerning end-of-life fears) in COPD patients should be based not only on illness severity, but rather on psychological distress and disease-specific anxieties.     

Training Implications of Salesperson Influence Strategy

Abstract

Salespeople attempt to influence their customers in different ways. Depending upon the situation, some of their influence attempts are more successful than others. Therefore, salespeople should be trained to recognize key differences in the situations they face and to use those influence strategies which seem to be the most effective in dealing with the particular situations. This article identifies several types of influences used by salespeople, empirically validates their use, suggests some specific training implications related to influence attempts, and offers an operational framework within which the training may be conducted.     

Judging the Goring Ox: Retribution Directed Toward Animals

Prior research on the psychology of retribution is complicated by the difficulty of separating retributive and general deterrence motives when studying human offenders (Study 1). We isolate retribution by investigating judgments about punishing animals, which allows us to remove general deterrence from consideration. Studies 2 and 3 document a “victim identity” effect, such that the greater the perceived loss from a violent animal attack, the greater the belief that the culprit deserves to be killed. Study 3 documents a “targeted punishment” effect, such that the responsive killing of the actual “guilty” culprit is seen as more deserved than the killing of an almost identical yet “innocent” animal from the same species. Studies 4 and 5 extend both effects to participants' acceptance of inflicting pain and suffering on the offending animal at the time of its death, and show that both effects are mediated by measures of retributive sentiment, and not by consequentialist concerns.