Bir Suçu Ağır Yapan Nedir? Warr’un Suç Ağırlığı Modelinin bir Testi

Year 2020, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 1 - 31, 05.05.2020

Galma Akdeniz

https://doi.org/10.26650/JPLC2020-0006

Abstract

What Makes a Crime Serious? Testing Warr’s Model of Offence Seriousness

Abstract

Warr (1989) proposed that the perceptions of seriousness of different criminal offences are a function of perceptions of harmfulness caused by a crime (consequences of the crime), and perceived wrongfulness of a crime (normative evaluations regarding the crime). The study reported in this paper tested this model and examined the perceptions of seriousness of different offences in a sample of university students in Turkey. It was found that the degree of consensus regarding offence seriousness was much higher for offences judged as more serious. It was further found, when using wrongfulness and harmfulness assessments, that offences clustered into three larger groups: offences that present threat/risk of physical harm/death, property offences, and “minor” offences. Further, Warr’s model was tested on both the offence and the individual level of analysis. The findings suggest that the model indeed holds, however relative strength of harmfulness and wrongfulness, as predictors of crime seriousness, are different in Turkey, compared to findings from the USA and Westernest European countries. On an individual level, it was found that harmfulness was a stronger predictor than wrongfulness in a much larger number of offences, and that on the level of the offence, harmfulness was as strong a predictor of seriousness as wrongfulness.

Keywords

Crime seriousness, criminal victimization, norm violation, offences, violence perceptions

References

• Adriaenssen, A., Karstedt, S., Paoli, L., & Visschers, J. (2019). Taking Crime Seriously: Conservation Values and Legal Cynicism as Predictors of Public Perceptions of the Seriousness of Crime. International Criminal Justice Review, 29(4), 317-334.
• Adriaenssen, A., Paoli, L., Karstedt, S., Visschers, J., Greenfield, V. A., & Pleysier, S. (2018). Public perceptions of the seriousness of crime: Weighing the harm and the wrong. European Journal of Criminology, 17(2), 127-150. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1477370818772768.
• Alter, A. L., Kernochan, J., & Darley, J. M. (2007). Transgression wrongfulness outweighs its harmfulness as a determinant of sentence severity. Law and Human Behavior, 31(4), 319-335. https://doi/10.1007/s10979006-9060-x.
• Burton, S. E., Finn, M., Livingston, D., Scully, K., Bales, W. D., & Padgett, K. (2004). Applying a crime seriousness scale to measure changes in the severity of offenses by individuals arrested in Florida. Justice Research and Policy, 6(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.3818%2FJRP.6.1.2004.1.
• Carlson, J. M., & Williams, T. (1993). Perspectives on the Seriousness of Crimes. Social Science Research, 22(2), 190-207. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1006/ssre.1993.1009.
• Cullen, F. T., Link, B. G., & Polanzi, C. W. (1982). The Seriousness of Crime Revisited: Have Attitudes Toward White-Collar Crime Changed?. Criminology, 20(1), 83-102. https://psycnet.apa.org/ doi/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1982.tb00449.x.
• Cullen, F. T., Link, B. G., Travis, L. F., & Wozniak, J. F. (1985). Consensus in crime seriousness: Empirical reality or methodological artifact?. Criminology, 23(1), 99-117. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1985.tb00328.x.
• Curry, T. R. (1996). Conservative Protestantism and the perceived wrongfulness of crimes: A research note. Criminology, 34(3), 453-464.
• Evans, S. S., & Scott, J. E. (1984). The seriousness of crime cross-culturally: The impact of religiosity. Criminology, 22(1), 39-59. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1984.tb00287.x .
• Fishman, G., Kraus, V., & Cohen, B. Z. (1986). A multidimensional approach to the problem of crime seriousness. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 10(1-2), 177-191. https:// doi.org/10.1080/01924036.1986.9688842 .
• Haidt, J. (2001). The emotional dog and its rational tail: A social intuitionist approach to moral judgment. Psychological Review, 108(4), 814–834. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.108.4.814
• Herzog, S., & Einat, T. (2016). Moral judgment, crime seriousness, and the relations between them: An exploratory study. Crime & Delinquency, 62(4), 470-500. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0011128712466889 .
• Inglehart, R., C. Haerpfer, A. Moreno, C. Welzel, K. Kizilova, J. Diez-Medrano, M. Lagos, P. Norris, E. Ponarin & B. Puranen et al. (eds.). 2014. World Values Survey: Round Six - Country-Pooled Datafile 2010-2014. Madrid: JD Systems Institute. Version:http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSDocumentationWV
• Kwan, Y. K., Ip, W. C., & Kwan, P. (2000). A crime index with Thurstone’s scaling of crime severity. Journal of Criminal Justice, 28(3), 237-244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2FS0047-2352%2800%2900039-8.
• Lesieur, H. R., & Lehman, P. M. (1975). Remeasuring delinquency: A replication and critique. The British Journal of Criminology, 15(1), 69-80. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a046611 .
• Levi, M., & Jones, S. (1985). Public and police perceptions of crime seriousness in England and Wales. The British Journal of Criminology, 25(3), 234-250. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a047529 .
• Miethe, T. D. (1982). Public Consensus on Crime Seriousness Normative Structure or Methodological Artifact?. Criminology, 20(3/4), 515-526. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1982.tb00475.x .
• O’Conell, M., & Whelan, A. (1996). Taking wrongs seriously: Public perceptions of crime seriousness. The British Journal of Criminology, 36(2), 299-318. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a014087 .
• Parton, D. A., Hansel, M., & Stratton, J. R. (1991). Measuring crime seriousness: Lessons from the national survey of crime severity. The British Journal of Criminology, 31(1), 72-85. https://doi.org/10.1093/ oxfordjournals.bjc.a048086 .
• Rose, A. M., & Prell, A. E. (1955). Does the punishment fit the crime? A study in social valuation. American Journal of Sociology, 61(3), 247-259. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1086/221736 .
• Rosenmerkel, S. P. (2001). Wrongfulness and harmfulness as components of seriousness of white-collar offenses. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 17(4), 308-327. https://psycnet.apa.org/ doi/10.1177/1043986201017004002 .
• Rossi, P. H., Waite, E., Bose, C. E., & Berk, R. E. (1974). The seriousness of crimes: Normative structure and individual differences. American Sociological Review, 224-237. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.2307/2094234
• Skovron, S. E., Scott, J. E., & Rao, P. K. (1987). Cross Cultural Perceptions of Offense Severity: The United States, India and Kuwait. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 11(1-2), 4760. https://doi.org/10.1080/01924036.1987.9688855 .
• Sebba, L. (1980). Is Mens Rea a component of perceived offense seriousness?. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 71(2), 124-135. https://doi.org/10.2307/1142721 .
• Sellin, T., & Wolfgang, M. E. (1964). The Measurement of Delinquency. New York: Wiley. Stylianou, S. (2003). Measuring crime seriousness perceptions: What have we learned and what else do we want to know. Journal of Criminal Justice, 31(1), 37-56. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/S0047-2352(02)00198-8
• Taneri, G. (2016). Temel cezanın belirlenmesi. Ankara Barosu Dergisi, 3, 127-161.
• Üzülmez, İ (2006). Yeni Ceza Kanunu’nun Sisteminde Cezanın Belirlenmesi ve Bireyselleştirilmesi. Erzincan Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi, 10(3-4), 203-235.
• Ward, J. H. (1963). Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 58, 236–244
• Walker, M. A. (1978). Measuring the seriousness of crimes. The British Journal of Criminology, 18(4), 348-364. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a046933 .
• Warr, M. (1989). What is the perceived seriousness of crimes?. Criminology, 27(4), 795-822. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1989.tb01055.x .
• Wolfgang, M., Figlio, R. M., Tracy, P. E., & Singer, S. J. (1985). The National Survey of Crime Severity (NCJ96017). Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ Digitization/96017NCJRS.pdf