Receiving an on the spot penalty

A tale of morality, common sense and law-abidance

Bibliographic Data

ID12900445
AuthorsAJ Snow (0000-0003-3048-1960, Liverpool Hope University, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume19
Issue2
Pages141-159
Publication date2017-11-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCriminology & Criminal Justice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-8958 • E-ISSN: 1748-8966
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1748895817738556
OpenAlexW2775011866
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited26

This article examines citizens’ reactions to being issued with an on the spot penalty and the consequences this has for holding a law-abiding identity. Using mundane examples of statutory requirements regulating everyday life (motoring), it is found that people use common-sense purposive reasoning in their interpretation of law which does not match the actual black-letter law application of the specific statutes. The lack of congruence between the purposive understandings of legal requirements and the black-letter application of enforcement agencies allows citizens to maintain a moral position that is aligned with the aims of the law but not its actual requirements. This process reaffirms a belief in law-abidance even where the citizen has been found to break the law

Law enforcement · Political science · Sociology · Statute · Statutory interpretation · Statutory law · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Policing Practices and Perceptions

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