Should There Be a Duty to Report Crime

Bibliographic Data

ID13664980
AuthorsLouis Veneziano (Southeast Missouri State University), Carol Veneziano (Southeast Missouri State University, corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume87
Issue2
Pages423-430
Publication date2000-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychological Reports (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-2941 • E-ISSN: 1558-691X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2466/pr0.2000.87.2.423
PMID11086587
OpenAlexW2019953588
LanguageEN
References cited22

A number of studies have examined why people do or do not respond when they observe criminal activities. Traditionally, the legal system has not punished the failure to report a crime. This study sought to ascertain whether a sample of college students and public citizens thought there should be legal punishments for the failure to report crimes. Respondents (N = 301) were presented a list of illegal acts and asked to select from a list (no punishment, fine, or prison sentences) what type of punishment should be enforced for failure to report that crime. Analysis indicated that the sample thought there should be punishments for most of the crimes, with a fine as the modal response. For more serious crimes, more serious punishments were selected, and there were some sex differences. It appeared that public support for such laws might be strong

Criminology · Duty · Political science · Prison · Punishment (psychology · Sample (material · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Psychology · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending · Social Psychology