Feeling Sorry? – Tell Someone Who Cares
The Irrelevance of Remorse in Sentencing
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13895175 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mirko Bagaric (Monash University, corresponding author), Kumar Amarasekara (Monash University) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 364-376 |
| Publication date | 2001-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0265-5527 • E-ISSN: 1468-2311 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/1468-2311.00215 |
| OpenAlex | W2026732720 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
A fundamental moral proscription is that people should not violate the important interests of others, such as the right to life, physical integrity and property. Minimum standards of human decency require that when people breach this important proscription by breaking the criminal law, the least that is expected of them is that they show some contrition. It follows that offenders who are remorseful should not be treated more leniently. The purpose of this article is to debunk the widely held intuitive view that remorseful offenders should be dealt with less harshly than other offenders. We argue that irrespective of which of the main theories of punishment one adopts, remorse is irrelevant to sentencing, and that it should henceforth be disregarded as a sentencing consideration. Even in the context of restorative theories of justice, remorse only has a marginal role
Context (archaeology · Criminology · Epistemology · Feeling · Political science · Politics · Property (philosophy · Proscription · Punishment (psychology · Remorse · Sociology · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Free Will and Agency · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · War, Ethics, and Justification
Remorse and the production of truth
Theorizing the penality of sentencing in international criminal trials
Moral emotions in restorative justice conferences
Retributive Whisper
Emocionalización de la justicia de menores. Un análisis preliminar
The International Criminal Court Statute and the Failure to Mention Symbolic Reparation
Honesty as a “communicative tool” in sentencing
Courtroom contrition
The solution to the dilemma presented by the guilty plea discount
The internationalisation of sentencing
Some Issues for Sentencing in the International Criminal Court
Getting the Measure of Emotion - and the Cautionary Tale of Emotional Intelligence
Punishing Persistence
A Behavioral Analysis of Apologies, Forgiveness, and Interpersonal Conflict
Affect and the Judicial Assessment of Offenders
Constructing Remorse
| Unique citing works | 16 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2002 - 2025 (24) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 16 |