The Moral Weight of Murder
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8401593 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Susie Hulley (0000-0002-6467-9134, University of Cambridge, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-02 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal of Criminology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0955 • E-ISSN: 1464-3529 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjc/azaf089 |
| OpenAlex | W4416983597 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 31 |
The act of murder raises deep moral questions about how a person could kill another human-being. Yet little is known about how individuals implicated in murders morally reflect on their actions. Based on research with men and women convicted of murder when young in England and Wales, this article exposes the differential moral burden of murder offences: a ‘moral weight’ that varies along a continuum from light to heavy. ‘Light’ moral weight is associated with making sense of an offence and being able to psychologically and emotionally move on from it—essential for developing a positive sense of self and wellbeing. The ‘moral weight’ of murder offers a new and empirically grounded framework to explore how people can be supported to move on from serious offending
Homicide · Moral development · Moral disengagement · Morality · Poison control · Suicide prevention · Free Will and Agency · Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses
Male–Male Murder
Moral injury and moral repair in war veterans
Vulnerability, Moral responsibility, and Moral Obligations
The Ideal Victim
Life Imprisonment from Young Adulthood
Life Imprisonment
The Stains of Imprisonment
Amputation or Reconstruction? Notes on the Concept of “Knifing Off” and Desistance From Crime
Depth, weight, tightness
Always gotta be two mans’
Girls Blush, Sometimes
What Have We Learned from Five Decades of Neutralization Research
Murderers, Victims and 'Survivors
Making Sense of ‘Joint Enterprise’ for Murder
Sociological Practice
An attributional analysis of excuse giving
The narratives of offenders
Moral Emotions and Moral Behavior
Heavy-light, absent-present
Accounts
Situated Actions and Vocabularies of Motive
Techniques of Neutralization
Violent Offenders, Moral Selves
Changing Violent Minds
Criminal Homicide as a Situated Transaction
Convicted Murderers' Accounts of Their Crimes
Who killed whom
| Highly cited | No |
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