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DETERRENCE WITHOUT PUNISHMENT
Author(s) -
TOBY JACKSON
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
criminology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.467
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1745-9125
pISSN - 0011-1384
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1981.tb00411.x
Subject(s) - punishment (psychology) , deterrence (psychology) , criminology , politics , criminal behavior , state (computer science) , sociology , social psychology , psychology , law and economics , political science , law , computer science , algorithm
Deterrence is conceivable without formal punishment administered by the state provided that informal social disapproval and self‐condemnation are the predictable consequences of criminal behavior. Unfortunately. such consequences cannot be counted on in modern secular societies, partly because of the social heterogeneity that prevents consensus on what is heinous behavior. This article considers the feasibility of symbolic redefinition of criminal acts so as to make social disapproval and self‐condemnation more probable. The crime of rape is used to illustrate this approach. The issue is: Can collective efforts at symbolic redefinition of crime be mobilized through the political process and thereby prevent some crimes from occurring that otherwise would take place?