SERIOUSNESS OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOUR: AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE

By drawing upon T. Sellin & M. E. Wolfgang (THE MEA- SUREMENT OF DELINQUENCY, New York, NY: J. Wiley & Sons, 1964), 3 of their hyp's are tested: (1) 'Heinousness' or 'offensiveness' & 'disruptiveness' are unidimensional phenomena. (2) Law enforcement personnel & students do not differ signif'ly in their ratings of moral offenses; & (3) ratings of seriousness of offenses do not vary by SES. Issue is taken with Sellin & Wolfgang's approach & an alternative perspective based on E. Durkheim's distinction between repressive & restitutive law is developed. It was expected that the hyp's would not be confirmed. For the test, a survey questionaire was constructed containing 60 DEL acts drawn from the Federal Bur of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reports' 29 classificatory labels & refined through use of Sellin & Wolfgang's offense descriptions. This instrument was admin'ed to 190 R's included in 2 groups of raters: (a) 150 M's & F's enrolled in 4 upper division classes at a Coll in Southern Calif, & (b) 40 police sci students attending courses part-time at a southern Calif Junior Coll & employed as patrolmen. By using a 7-point category scale, all S's were asked to rate each act on the 2 dimensions of offensiveness & disruptiveness. All 3 hyp's were confirmed. It is concluded that overall, the results of this study parallel Sellin & Wolfgang's on all counts. Findings also suggest that the separation in Durkheimian theory between repressive & restitutive sanction may be subject to question. This implies that the current distinction between torts & crimes embodied in the law & court system may be misleading. 2 Tables. Modified AA.