| 1. |
- Balvig, Flemming, et al.
(författare)
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The public sense of justice in Scandinavia : A study of attitudes towards punishments
- 2015
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Ingår i: European Journal of Criminology. - : SAGE Publications. - 1477-3708 .- 1741-2609. ; 12:3, s. 342-361
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Crime policy is increasingly legitimised by reference to the public sense of justice. A research project has therefore been conducted in all five Scandinavian countries in order to examine the public’s views on punishment. These views have been examined by means of simple questions in telephone interviews, by vignettes in postal questionnaires, and by focus groups having seen a film of a mock trial. The results show that when asked simple questions, the public want stiffer sentences. In their assessments of the vignette crimes, the public demands on average lower prison sentences than judges, and this tendency becomes stronger in the focus group study. The propensities towards punitiveness seem to diminish with more information and increasing proximity to the parties involved.
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| 2. |
- Jerre, Kristina, 1974-
(författare)
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Contradictory Expectations on Society's Reaction to Crime : A Qualitative Study of How People View the Objectives of Society's Reaction to Crime and How These Objectives Can Be Fulfilled
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Ingår i: Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention. - 1404-3858 .- 1651-2340.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The intention of this study was to develop an understanding of the views of the public on, first, what the objective(s) of society’s reaction to crime should be, and second, how different types of sanctions are perceived as being able to fulfill these objectives. A thematic analysis was conducted on the basis of transcripts of group interviews. The participants argued that society’s reaction should signal condemnation of the crime and at the same time be beneficial in relation to the re-socialisation of the offender. Sanctions that were perceived to fulfill the signaling of condemnation, i.e. tangible custodial sanctions, were described as being counterproductive in relation to the resocialisation of the offender. On the other hand, the signal of caring for the offender was perceived as having a neutralizing effect on the signal of condemnation. For the objective of society’s reaction to be fulfilled it thus has to give the illusion of being tangible and harsh but at the same time, in reality, must serve as an effective, lasting deterrent to the offender. It is suggested that the contradictions and tensions surrounding the objectives of society’s reaction to crime, and the issue of how these contradictions might be considered when framing crime policy, should be opened up as a matter for discussion in the public debate.
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| 3. |
- Jerre, Kristina, 1974-
(författare)
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Contradictory Expectations on Society's Reaction to Crime : A Qualitative Study of How People View the Objectives of Society's Reaction to Crime and How These Objectives Can Be Fulfilled
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1404-3858 .- 1651-2340. ; 14:2, s. 98-114
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The intention of this study was to develop an understanding of the views of the public on, first, what the objective(s) of society’s reaction to crime should be, and second, how different types of sanctions are perceived as being able to fulfill these objectives. A thematic analysis was conducted on the basis of transcripts of group interviews. The participants argued that society’s reaction should signal condemnation of the crime and at the same time be beneficial in relation to the re-socialisation of the offender. Sanctions that were perceived to fulfill the signaling of condemnation, i.e. tangible custodial sanctions, were described as being counterproductive in relation to the resocialisation of the offender. On the other hand, the signal of caring for the offender was perceived as having a neutralizing effect on the signal of condemnation. For the objective of society’s reaction to be fulfilled it thus has to give the illusion of being tangible and harsh but at the same time, in reality, must serve as an effective, lasting deterrent to the offender. It is suggested that the contradictions and tensions surrounding the objectives of society’s reaction to crime, and the issue of how these contradictions might be considered when framing crime policy, should be opened up as a matter for discussion in the public debate.
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| 4. |
- Jerre, Kristina, 1974-
(författare)
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Public Opinion on Appropriate Sentences - which Public, which Opinion?
- 2013
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Ingår i: European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0928-1371 .- 1572-9869. ; 19:1, s. 31-45
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Since the collapse of the treatment ideology, public opinion has assumed an increasingly central role as a basis for legitimising current crime policy. It is therefore important to be able to capture and describe the public's views on penal sanctions. Assessments of public opinion regarding appropriate sanctioning levels are largely made on the basis of different types of survey. The problems associated with how such surveys should be implemented in order to produce valid results have been discussed at length. The issue of how the results should be presented in order to provide a representative picture of public opinion have more rarely been explicitly problematized however. This article examines the question of how large a proportion, and which segments, of the public are represented in different descriptions of public opinion that can be produced based on survey results. The issue is examined on the basis of a national Swedish postal survey, in which the respondents were asked to state which sanction should be awarded in relation to six crimes described in the form of vignettes. The survey shows that public opinion on appropriate sanctioning levels is very varied. Summarizing public opinion is thus not a straightforward task. Different descriptions that are similarly representative in relation to one another lead to different conclusions as to what public opinion views as appropriate sanctioning levels. Routine references to public opinion are thus quite arbitrary unless those who refer to a certain description of public opinion also justify why this particular description is relevant.
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| 5. |
- Jerre, Kristina, 1974-
(författare)
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Ska strängare straff dömas ut vid återfall? Allmänhetens inställning till återfallsstraff enligt en nationell vinjettstudie
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nordisk Tidsskrift for Kriminalvidenskab. - : Det Kgl. Bibliotek/Royal Danish Library. - 0029-1528 .- 2446-3051. ; 1:1, s. 78-95
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Harsher punishments for repeat offenders? The public's opinion according to a Swedish vignette studyThe principle of punishing repeat offenders more severely is pretty much universal. A recurring justification in the public debate for this principle is that the 'public sentiment' demands harsher punishments for recidivists. In this study survey participants are asked to propose appropriate sanctions for five different criminal cases described in vignettes. The offender in each case is described as either having or not having previous convictions. There is little difference in the sanctions given to previously convicted and non-convicted offenders. According to the results, 'public sentiment' does not come across as sufficiently homogenous, on it's own, to legitimize a system where repeat offenders are systematically and consistently punished more severely than offenders with no previous convictions. If we are to justify enhanced punishments for repeat offenders, we should seek a more solid basis for doing so than simply relying on routine referrals to public opinion.
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| 6. |
- Jerre, Kristina, 1974-
(författare)
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The Public's Sense of Justice in Sweden - a Smorgasbord of Opinions
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The public’s views on what constitute appropriate reactions to crime, have come to assume an increasingly central position in the crime policy rhetoric of western countries. In Sweden this manifests itself in recurrent referrals to the public’s sense of justice. Any clear definitions of what the public’s sense of justice is, how it is expressed and how it can be read are however absent from these referrals.In this thesis the use of referrals to the public’s sense of justice as a legitimizing ground for penal legislation is problematized from an empirical perspective. Paper I points out the substantial variation found in the public’s view on what constitutes appropriate sentences. According to Paper II society’s reactions to crime are expected to fulfill different, and often contradictory, objectives simultaneously. Paper III also points to the assumption that views on what constitutes appropriate sentences are based on deliberations where different dimensions of society’s reaction are weighed against each other.The public’s sense of justice, thus, consists of diverse, variable and complex opinions. Referrals to it as a legitimizing ground for changes in penal legislation becomes a matter of choice between whose and which opinion it is that should be emphasized. For this choice to be perceived as legitimate it should not be made without at the same time motivating it.If crime policy is to be both knowledge-based and fitted to the public’s sense of justice the public must be given the opportunity to develop an informed and well-grounded sense of justice. Especially since, compared to other political matters, crime policy and its consequences are something that only a small portion of the public comes into direct contact with. The suggestion is that the public criminal policy debate is framed so that it matches the complexity of the public’s sense of justice itself.
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