Does perpetrator punishment satisfy victims' feelings of revenge?

Orth, Ulrich (2004). Does perpetrator punishment satisfy victims' feelings of revenge? Aggressive behavior, 30(1), pp. 62-70. Wiley 10.1002/ab.20003

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Criminal victimization often provokes strong feelings of revenge. Two studies were conducted to investigate whether legal punishment of the perpetrator reduces victims’ feelings of revenge. A cross-sectional study of 174 crime victims revealed that punishment severity does not predict feelings of revenge at a time several years after the trial. A longitudinal study of 31 crime victims revealed that, for the time interval from a few weeks before the trial to a few weeks after the trial, punishment severity significantly predicts a decrease in feelings of revenge; nevertheless intraindividual and interindividual stability of these feelings was high. Taken together, results of the two studies suggest that perpetrator punishment only partially, and moreover only transitorily, satisfies victims’ feelings of revenge. Therefore, satisfaction of victims’ feelings of revenge cannot be taken as empirical justification for tightening of sentencing norms.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Developmental Psychology

UniBE Contributor:

Orth, Ulrich

Subjects:

100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology

ISSN:

1098-2337

Publisher:

Wiley

Language:

English

Submitter:

Ulrich Orth

Date Deposited:

01 Dec 2015 14:32

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:50

Publisher DOI:

10.1002/ab.20003

Uncontrolled Keywords:

crime victims, retaliation, punishment, justice, criminal justice, emotional states

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.73258

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/73258

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