Sentencing as a Human Process / / John Hogarth.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Archive 1933-1999
• VerfasserIn: Hogarth, John,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2019]; ©1971
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Heritage
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (448 p.) :; tables, figures throughout

Sentencing is not a neutral or mechanical act; it is a human process, highly charged affectively and motivationally. Sentencing decisions take place in a social environment of laws, facts, ideas, and people. This study of sentencing behaviour is primarily concerned with the mental processes involved in decision-making. It is based on intensive interviews and on measures of the information-processing ability of seventy-one full-time judges in Ontario. The work covers such topics as: problems of sentencing (particularly existing disparities); social and economic background of judges and their varying penal philosophies; the nature and measurement of judicial attitudes toward crime; punishment and related issues; prediction of sentencing behaviour based on attitude scales (which the author has constructed) and also on 'fact patterns perceived by judges'; and the impact of social and legal constraints on the sentencing process. The study concludes that there exists a very high correlation between a judges definition of situation and the sentence which he imposes and that while sentences meted out for a particular law violation under similar circumstances may differ among judges, judges are 'highly consistent within themselves.' Using these conclusions the author constructs a model of judicial behaviour and shows how this model can be used to predict and to explain sentencing and breaks new ground in the use of the social and behavioural sciences as sources of data to explain the sentencing process.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Foreword -- Preface -- Contents -- 1. Introduction: The Problem of Sentencing -- 2. The Theoretical Basis to the Study -- 3. Jurisdiction, Appointment, and Tenure -- 4. Background Characteristics of Magistrates -- 5. Penal Philosophy: Similarities and Differences Among Magistrates -- 6. The Meaning of Judicial Attitudes -- 7. The Measurement of Judicial Attitudes -- 8. The Content and Structure of Attitudes to Crime and Punishment -- 9. The Prediction of Sentencing Behaviour from Attitude Scales -- 10. Legal Constraints on Sentencing -- 11. Social Constraints on Sentencing -- 12. The Impact of SocioLegal Constraints on Sentencing -- 13. The Relationship of Social Characteristics to Attitudes and Beliefs -- 14. The Search for Information -- 15. Communication of Information -- 16. The Assessment of Information -- 17. The Organization and Integration of Information -- 18. The Complexity of Thought Processes in Sentencing -- 19. The Prediction of Sentencing Behaviour from Fact Patterns Perceived by Magistrates -- 20. Towards a Model of Sentencing Behaviour -- 21. Summary of Principal Findings -- An Afterword. Implications for the Improvement of Sentencing -- Bibliography -- Index