Who Dares Fine a Murderer? The Changing Meaning of Money and Fines in Western European Criminal Systems

Bibliographic Data

ID12283040
AuthorsPatricia Faraldo Cabana (0000-0001-7420-3749, Universidade da Coruña, corresponding author), Patricia Faraldo-Cabana (University of A Coruña, Spain; Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), University of Freiburg, Germany; Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
Year2015
Volume25
Issue4
Pages489-507
Publication date2015-12-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Legal Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0964-6639 • E-ISSN: 1461-7390
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0964663915618545
OpenAlexW2338693029
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited20

This article offers a comprehensive analysis of the historical development of the penal fine as a sanction from the point of view that the changing meaning of money influences the perceived appropriateness of fines as a punishment for every type of offence, or only certain offences. As it is shown here, a series of associations based on the idea of money, its essence and its capabilities had a profound impact on modern European legal culture. The different perception of the significance of money in contrast to freedom explains the rise of imprisonment in the 19th century. The present use of fines to punish less serious crimes and misdemeanours within the criminal law is mainly a direct consequence of the development of money and its characteristics of impersonality and interchangeability since the 19th century

Criminal law · Epistemology · Imprisonment · Law and economics · Meaning (existential · Political science · Punishment (psychology · Sociology · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Historical Economic and Legal Thought · Law · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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