PERCEPTUAL DETERRENCE AND DRINKING AND DRIVING AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS*

This research examines the effect of perceived legal risks on drinking and driving. Data are from college students who were surveyed three times. Self-reports of recent drinking and driving at Time 3 are regressed on Time 1 and Time 2 measures of perceived risk of punishment. Prior moral evaluations, past drinking and driving, and previous legal intervention for drinking and driving are controlled. Perceptions of risk of arrest and severity of punishment are not related to subsequent drinking and driving, but moral tolerance, prior drinking and driving, and previous legal intervention all predict subsequent drinking and driving.     

REDUCTION IN DRUNK DRIVING AS A RESPONSE TO INCREASED THREATS OF SHAME,EMBARRASSMENT, AND LEGAL SANCTIONS*

In a recent paper we proposed a strategy for incorporating threats of shame and embarrassment, along with the threat of legal sanctions, into a rational choice perspective on illegal behavior. In this paper we use that approach in an attempt to account for a reduction in self-reported drunk driving observed in a community between identical surveys conducted in 1982 and 1990. The interval between the two surveys was a period of intense legislative activity and moral crusading at the national and local levels. Our analysis indicates that the reduction in self-reported drunk driving in the community is primarily attributable to an increase in the threat of shame for this offense.     

Justice,Emotion, and Belonging: Legal Consciousness in a Taiwanese Family Conflict

This case study of a family conflict in Taiwan explores how legal consciousness is emotionally driven, intersubjective, and dependent on relational factors that are deeply connected to an individual's perception of the self–other relationship and affinity therein. As the members of the Lee family negotiated emotionally on issues involving elder care and inheritance, their adoption of law was at times absent, at others influential, but always shaped by certain Chinese concepts such as zìjǐrén (自己人), which constitute the emotional complex of belonging in Taiwan. This cultural patterning identifies a person as included, accepted, and respected by the group and when in conflict, is the driving force behind a disputants' pursuit of an identity that places them on moral high ground as a form of justice. Rather than depending on rational decision making or legal norms, their legal consciousness was determined by the sense of self, rectitude, emotion, and subjectivity.     

当代国外学校道德教育状况综述

道德教育关系到国家的存亡、民族的兴衰、社会的稳定和发展,学校德育作为道德教育的重要组成部分,已为全世界各 国所重视。借鉴当代国外学校道德教育成功的经验,对于加强和改进我国学校德育工作具有重大的意义。     

Deficits in Theory of Mind,empathic understanding and moral reasoning: a comparison between young offenders and non-offenders

Previous research suggests a lack of pro-social skills is characteristic of an antisocial or offending personality. It is therefore reasonable to assume that an inadequate understanding of another's mental state may contribute to antisocial or offending behaviour. Forty-six young-adult male offenders and a control completed measures to assess: Theory of Mind (ToM), empathic understanding (EU) and moral reasoning. Significant differences in the performance of young-adult offenders and the control group were detected in ToM, EU and moral reasoning with young-adult offenders scoring lower than the control group. A positive association was also found between ToM, EU and moral reasoning. These findings contribute to a further understanding of how individuals make sense of, and respond to, the social world around them. The ability to measure ToM, EU and moral reasoning and subsequently identify any specific deficits, as well as recognise the link between these three key skills, is not only useful for researchers but it will also allow practitioners to tailor existing (or develop new) interventions specific to the needs of an individual. This could be particularly useful in terms of recidivism when applied to those involved in antisocial or offending behaviour.     

A NOTE ON PERCEPTUAL DETERRENCE,RELIGIOUSLY BASED MORAL CONDEMNATION,AND SOCIAL CONTROL*

Empirical investigations of social control mechanisms are often limited to single sources of control, such as the efficacy of legal punishments. Because research has produced only moderate support for the hypothesis that perceived risk of legal punishments reduces the likelihood of nonconformity, some have searched sources of control that condition this relationship. such as the degree of moral condemnation individuals hold toward a criminal/delinquent act. However, relevant research has resulted in contradictory findings. Using cross-sectional and panel data, we obtained results that show that moral condemnation of an act conditions the deterrent relationship and that findings from previous studies may have underestimated the effect of legal deterrents given the presence of those in the population who refrain from marijuana use because it is believed to be sin fur. Implications of the findings for the relative deterrability of serious versus minor offenses and the relevance of this distinction for issues of social control are discussed.     

Correlates of moral development in juvenile delinquents

Moral reasoning and development have been the focus of considerable research in the past two decades, stimulated primarily by Kohlberg’s formulation of the stages of moral development. Studies of juvenile delinquents have indicated that youthful offenders are at lower developmental stages of moral reasoning than their nondeliquent counterparts. Some research has also examined patterns among juvenile delinquents with respect to moral judgments, as it is recognized that they are heterogeneous as a group. In order to further examine correlates of moral judgments among juvenile delinquents, a sample of 411 adolescent offenders was obtained. The sample consisted of all adjudicated male delinquents aged twelve to fifteen admitted to a state training school over a sixteen month period of time. Data was obtained on a measure of moral judgment, the Morality-Immorality Scale (Baker, Stewart, Kaiser, Brown & Barclay, 1979), along with a variety of measures of personality, behavioral, social, intellectual and educational skills. The adolescents were divided into three groups based on their scores on the MIS. The highest scoring group on MIS had better scores on a variety of behavioral, intellectual and personality indicators, while the lowest scoring group had the worst scores on such measures. Moral-religious emphasis in the home was not associated with the scores on the Morality-Immorality Scale, but a measure of family pathology was negatively related to these scores. Implications of the findings for research and for the development of moral education programs for delinquents is discussed.     

Lessons from Morality-Based Social Identity: The Power of Outgroup “Hate,” Not Just Ingroup “Love”

Based on the unique features of morality, we suggest that group memberships rooted in moral convictions are a special classification of inherently threatening social groups in which outgroup “hate” naturally occurs with ingroup “love.” Three studies explored emotional reactions to ingroups and outgroups by individuals whose group memberships were either morality-based or non-morality-based. Results of each study indicated that individuals in morality-based groups reported less positive ingroup emotions and more negative outgroup emotions and threat than did those in non-morality-based groups. Additionally, strength of morality-based identification was predicted by attitudes about both the ingroup and the outgroup, but only attitudes about the ingroup predicted identification for non-morality-based groups. Together, these studies suggest a necessary interdependence of ingroup positivity and outgroup negativity for social groups based in morality. We conclude that negative outgroup-related emotions may be just as important as positive ingroup-related emotions for social identification based on moral convictions.     

INTEGRATING CELERITY,IMPULSIVITY, AND EXTRALEGAL SANCTION THREATS INTO A MODEL OF GENERAL DETERRENCE: THEORY AND EVIDENCE*

We propose a model that integrates the extralegal consequences from conviction and impulsivity into the traditional deterrence framework. The model was tested with 252 college students, who completed a survey concerning drinking and driving. Key findings include the following: (1) Although variation in sanction certainty and severity predicted offending, variation in celerity did not; (2) the extralegal consequences from conviction appear to be at least as great a deterrent as the legal consequences; (3) the influence of sanction severity diminished with an individual's “present‐orientation”; and (4) the certainty of punishment was far more robust a deterrent to offending than was the severity of punishment.     

Are “We” More Punitive than “Me”? Self-Construal Styles,Justice-Related Attitudes,and Punitive Judgments

Cross-cultural as well as procedural justice research suggests that an interdependent self-construal is connected to more justice-related concerns, more moral outrage following observed unethical behavior, and a preference for effective but constructive sanctions. Independent self-construal, on the other hand, is expected to be connected to weaker moral reactions toward injustice, but also to preferring punitive over constructive forms of sanctions. Two studies were conducted in which dispositional self-construal was measured. In Study 2, self-construal was also manipulated with a priming procedure. Results show that interdependent self-construal is connected to stronger emotional reactions toward injustice, to social and moral concerns, to preferences for constructive forms, but also to retribution-oriented goals of punitive sanctions. Independent self-construal, on the other hand, goes along with fewer moral concerns, lower punitiveness, but more draconic attitudes.     

Controlling the alcohol-impaired driver in Scandinavia and the United States: Simple deterrence and beyond

Three papers on simple deterrence of alcohol-impaired driving (Ross, 1982; Votey, 1984; and Phillips, Ray, and Votey, 1984) were reviewed within a broad framework of control variables including: legal, technical, psychological, moral, and cultural influences. In applying this framework to a comparison of Norway and Sweden versus the United States, it was apparent that Scandinavian drivers are subjected to a considerably greater range and intensity of control influences than American drivers. It was recommended that a causal analysis of simple deterrence should be supplemented by a contextual analysis of general prevention for a fuller appreciation of the complex, interactive network of influences upon alcohol-impaired driving.     

An Investigation of Moral Suasion and Vertical Equity Arguments on Intended Taxpayer Noncompliance

A statewide telephone survey was used to obtain data on self‐reports of hypothetical prize income. One‐third of the subjects were read a moral argument, one‐third were read information on the level of taxes paid by the "wealthy," and one‐third of the subjects were treated as the control group. Both the moral and the wealthy‐pay arguments increased compliance for some of the subjects. There was no apparent backlash effect from the moral argument as suggested by Tittle and Rowe (1973). The wealthy‐pay strategy was effective for taxpayers with tax balances due rather than for those receiving tax refunds. The study also provides evidence on how college education moderates the effects of tax balances due as well as evidence on how a moral argument can negate the noncompliance effects of tax balances due.     

DETERRENCE AND MORAL PERSUASION EFFECTS ON CORPORATE TAX COMPLIANCE: FINDINGS FROM A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL*

Previous studies on tax compliance have focused primarily on the tax‐reporting behavior of individuals. This study reports results from a randomized field test of the effects of deterrence and moral persuasion on the tax‐reporting behavior of 4,395 corporations in Israel. Two experimental groups received tax letters, one conveying a deterrent message and the other a moral persuasion message. Three types of measures are used to evaluate compliance based on the magnitude of the difference‐in‐differences of means in 1) gross sales values reported to the authority, 2) tax dollars paid to the authority, and 3) tax deductions. Overall, both deterrence and moral persuasion approaches do not produce statistically significant greater compliance compared with control conditions. These results do not support the ability of a policy of sending tax letters to increase substantively the reporting of true tax liability or tax payments by corporations. However, these results also show that moral persuasion can be counterproductive: Corporations in this experimental group show an increase rather than a decrease in tax deductions, which translates into loss of state revenues. The implications for theory, research, and tax policy are discussed.     

Grass-Roots Activism and the Drunk Driving Issue: A Survey of MADD Chapters

A survey of the local grass roots chapters of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) revealed that local chapter officers are primarily married, moderately educated, women who are active participants in other community organizations, and are often victims or have had family members killed in auto crashes. The chapter officers of MADD come from the traditional social base of community grass-roots activism and believe they have the support of other community groups. MADD's agenda for local activism resembles a moral crusade in that public awareness and youth education are given high priority in local chapters, with "legal advocacy" and victim assistance activities receiving less emphasis. Finally, chapter officers seem to adhere to a traditional moral belief in individual responsibility in their commitment to public awareness and stiffer penalties as "solutions" to the drunk driving problem.     

Criminality and moral dysfunctions: neurological,biochemical, and genetic dimensions

In this article, the author attempts to demonstrate a relationship between neurobiological dysfunctions and/or genetically determined deviant behavior and personality traits as well as moral abnormalities. Data from neuroscience show that a number of neurological dysfunctions are linked to cognitive and emotional disturbances. Cognitive and emotional abnormalities, in turn, are frequently related to moral dysfunctions. Moreover, neurological disorders can produce dramatic psychological and social problems, personality changes, and behavioral problems in patients. Those mental, emotional, and psychosocial problems and related moral dysfunctions are frequently linked to violence and/or criminal behavior. Genetic research found evidence of inheritability of antisocial traits, which interfere with moral development and activities. This information has consequences for any assessment and disposition within the legal system. More research on the interrelationship between neuro(bio)logical, genetic, emotional, and mental aspects of moral dysfunctions is needed for the development of adequate treatment, prevention, and intervention programs.     

REASON FOR EMOTION: REINVENTING JUSTICE WITH THEORIES,INNOVATIONS, AND RESEARCH—THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY 2002 PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS*

Criminology was born in the age of reason to apply “reason” to justice, tempering the expression of moral indignation with the economics of deterrence. Modern criminology is now poised for reinventing justice around the emotions of victims, offenders, and society. One prime example is restorative justice. Others include wider use of biomedical mental health treatments for offenders, programs to make justice officials more aware of the emotional impact of their words on citizens, and programs to help justice officials manage their own emotions. Research can advance theory and innovations as a basis for a new paradigm of “emotionally intelligent justice.”     

Moral questions,legal answers,and biotechnological advances

Moral failing is usually construed as a personal flaw, but there is another construction: where morals fail people, where our moral precepts are silent. The author of this article argues that this happens nowadays where technological advances, such as genetic engineering in medicine, raise moral questions but get legal answers. By responding to the legal issues involved, the moral questions are pre-empted. This results in answers drawn from legal categories, often with commercial perspectives, but misses the larger moral dilemma.     

论精神损害赔偿中的附从性规则——僭越事实的形成、演进与破解

精神损害赔偿中的附从性规则,是精神损害赔偿中颇具独特性的规则。尽管畅行于多国精神损害赔偿实践并起着事实上的基础性作用,附从性规则却一直未能取得与其实际作用相一致的地位。精神损害附从性规则未能反映法律的内在价值,其重要地位的形成,是法律向现实妥协的结果,这注定了其永不可能跃升为精神损害赔偿的基本原则。但当纯粹精神损害的确定成为可能时,对附从性规则的突破就成为大势所趋。正确认识精神损害赔偿的附从性规则,对于《侵权责任法》确立合适的精神损害赔偿范围具有重要意义。