Citation

Mueller-Johnson KU, Dhami MK. J. Soc. Psychol. 2010; 150(1): 77-97.

Affiliation

University of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA, United Kingdom. kum20@cam.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

20196530

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the effects of age and health on mock judges' sentencing decisions. The effects of these variables on length of prison sentence were examined in the context of offense severity and prior convictions. Experiment 1 involved a violent crime. Main effects were observed for age, health, offense severity and prior convictions. There was also an age by offense severity interaction. Experiment 2 involved a child sexual abuse case. Main effects were observed for health, offense severity, and prior convictions. In addition, an age by offense severity by prior convictions interaction effect was found. Thus, across both experiments, the age leniency effect was moderated by legal factors, suggesting that extra-legal factors affect sentencing in the context of legal factors. Further, for both offenses, offenders in poor health received shorter sentences than offenders in good health, suggesting that health deserves further research attention as an extra-legal variable.

Language: en