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Punishment.

Geoffrey P Goodwin1, Dena M Gromet2

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Retributivism, or punishment based on just deserts, is psychologically examined. Research suggests retributive motives are common, even in punishing companies and animals, and share common ground with restorative justice.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology of Law
  • Moral Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Retributivism, a deontological punishment theory, asserts deserved punishment proportional to moral blameworthiness.
  • It contrasts with consequentialist theories focused on future benefits.
  • Existing psychological evidence for retributive motives requires re-evaluation due to ambiguity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To psychologically investigate the underlying motives for legal punishment.
  • To examine whether retributivism (just deserts) drives ordinary individuals' desire for punishment.
  • To explore retributive motives in novel contexts and their relation to restorative justice.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing social psychology research on retributive motives.
  • Analysis of correlational studies examining punishment of companies and animals.
  • Exploration of the conceptual links between retributive and restorative justice.

Main Results:

  • Previous research affirming retributive motives needs critical re-examination.
  • Evidence suggests retributive motives extend to non-human entities like companies and animals.
  • Retributive and restorative justice share common ground in notions of deservingness and can be achieved through similar actions.

Conclusions:

  • Further research is needed to understand retributivism in human offenders.
  • Clarifying commonalities and differences between retributive and restorative justice is essential.
  • Investigating how the concept of desert shapes moral cognition is a key future direction.