Social Perceptions of Criminal Justice: A Trilogy

This article proposes the design of punitive sanctions in contemporary mentalities. Based on a representative sample of the adult population of French-speaking Switzerland (N = 1,881), empirical research made it possible to disclose three distinct views. "Prospectivism" justifies mainly the punitive sanction of reintegration into the society. The responses to infringements are moderated & turned toward improvement by care. "Contractualism" emphasizes the responsibility of the delinquent who must pay for what he did. The finality of the punishment is dominated by the idea of restitution: the sanction must be modulated by the purpose of the perpetrator & the objective gravity of the damage. "Ostracism" has a special image of the delinquent as a basis. He is the Other -- the foreigner, the marginal one, the junkie,. -- & justice is consistent with exclusion. The severity of the sanction is strong, including the use of defamatory or shame-inducing sanctions. 1 Figure, 1 Appendix, 36 References. Adapted from the source document.