Victim's Perspective of Forgiveness Seeking Behaviors After Transgressions

Forgiveness seeking after a relational transgression is an important aspect of relational repair from an interpersonal perspective, although it has received much less attention than the process of granting forgiveness. This research focuses on the victim's perspective of the transgressor's behaviors and how they are related to forgiveness and offense characteristics. This paper proposes a multidimensional concept of seeking forgiveness that includes four dimensions: apologies, restorative action, relational caring behaviors, and diverting behaviors. A questionnaire for assessing these dimensions was developed and tested with a general population sample of 450 subjects. Participants recalled a specific offense and then answered a questionnaire about the perceived usefulness of different forgiveness-seeking behaviors, a forgiveness inventory, and several questions regarding the characteristics of the offense (severity, intentionality, and frequency). Our results support the four-factor structure of the questionnaire. As the perceived intentionality of the offense increases, behaviors that are directly related to the transgression, such as apologies and restorative actions, are experienced as less useful for forgiveness. The more hurtful the offense, the less useful the diverting behaviors are. Behavior such as apologies and restorative action are related to a lower (less) motivation for revenge, while all forgiveness-seeking behaviors are related to an increase in feelings of benevolence toward the offender.

Going Off the Grid: Assessing Sentencing Departures for Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses

This research examines factors associated with departures from sentencing guidelines for a sample of individuals convicted of sexual offenses in Pennsylvania between 2004 and 2015 ( N = 26,093). We contribute to the literature on the sentencing of these cases by considering whether the impact of individual and contextual factors is conditioned by the type of sexual offense being sentenced (e.g., assaultive, child pornography, failure to comply with registration). Bayesian multilevel multinomial logit models suggested a number of legal, extralegal, and contextual correlates of departure likelihood, and indicated that the effects of offense severity, prior record, a previous sex offense conviction, multiple concurrent convictions, and court size vary across different subsets of sexual convictions.

Parasocial forgiveness: The roles of parasocial closeness and offense perceptions

Recent research suggests that robust predictors of interpersonal forgiveness, such as relationship closeness and offense severity, also predict forgiveness of a parasocial target. We extend this work using an interpersonal forgiveness measure to examine forgiveness of parasocial targets as a function of parasocial closeness and offense perceptions. Across two studies, we found that pre-offense closeness was associated with greater forgiveness and current closeness, and that forgiveness significantly mediated the relationship between pre-offense and current closeness. In Study 2, we additionally found that perceptions of apology sincerity were associated with greater forgiveness and current parasocial closeness. Finally, we found that a brief measure of parasocial closeness was comparable to the Parasocial Interaction Scale in its associations with forgiveness and related outcomes. Implications regarding similarities and differences in interpersonal and parasocial forgiveness are discussed. Additionally, possible benefits of using of a brief, face-valid, and versatile set of items to assess parasocial closeness are suggested.

Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the book, including the following major topics: why this neglected topic is so important; the ubiquity of prior record enhancement in modern sentencing systems, and their particularly powerful roles in U.S. jurisdictions with sentencing guidelines; the wide variations in the criminal history scoring formulas used in guidelines, with respect to matters such as which prior crimes and other factors are included, the weight each receives, and the degree to which a high score increases recommended sentence severity; the unclear punishment rationales for such enhancements; and the numerous negative consequences of these enhancements— increasing the size and expense of prison populations, undermining the important goal of punishment in proportion to offense severity, increasing the need for prison beds to house property and other nonviolent offenders, generating large numbers of aging prison inmates, contributing to racial disproportionality in prison populations, and undermining offenders’ efforts to reintegrate into society.

Paying for the Past

Virtually all modern sentencing systems consider the offender’s prior record to be an important determinant of the form and severity of punishment, often carrying more weight than the crime being sentenced. Repeat offenders “pay for their past,” even though they have already been punished for their prior crimes. And the majority of sentenced offenders have at least one prior conviction. This topic thus lies at the heart of the sentencing process; every well-designed sentencing scheme needs to have a carefully conceived approach to the use of prior convictions. But the vast literature on sentencing policy, law, and practice has generally overlooked this issue. Moreover, the apparent justifications for prior record enhancement—the repeat offender’s assumed greater culpability and risk of re-offending—are uncertain, and have rarely been subjected to critical appraisal. Nor has sufficient attention been paid to the substantial negative consequences of such enhancements, which: increase the size and expense of prison populations; impose penalties disproportionate to offense severity; fill prisons with nonviolent and aging, lower-risk offenders; increase racial disproportionality in prison populations; and undermine offenders’ efforts to reintegrate into society. This book focuses on prior record enhancements under sentencing guidelines systems in the United States because sentencing rules operate more transparently in those systems. But the policy implications are much broader. Similar enhancements are informally applied, with substantial impacts, when judges sentence without guidelines. And most jurisdictions have statutes (three-strikes and career-offender laws; higher penalties for second and subsequent violations) that impose much more severe penalties on repeat offenders.

A Multivariate Analysis of Incarceration and Sentence Length Decisions for Older Defendants

This study examines sentencing decisions for older defendants, and how legal and extralegal variables differently affect older defendants. Using data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing, the results indicate that defendants above the age of 50 are less likely to be sentenced to prison and jail and are more likely to be sentenced to a community sanction. For sentence length, however, those aged 50 and above receive significant longer jail sentences than those aged 18 to 29 and longer prison sentences than both those aged 30 to 49 and 18 to 29. The results also indicate that offense severity and prior record have a more negative effect on older defendants during the incarceration decision. During the sentence length decision, however, the opposite is found for the effect of offense severity. These findings are discussed and are used to make suggestions for future research and policy implications.

Differences and Similarities in Forgiveness Seeking Across Childhood and Adolescence

The current study examines age-related differences and similarities in forgiveness seeking. Students in third, seventh, and 12th grade imagined themselves committing various transgressions and the characteristics of these transgression (e.g., severity of consequences, type of offense) were manipulated. Across the age groups, forgiveness seeking was predicted by guilt, whereas withdrawal was predicted by shame. For all age groups, forgiveness seeking was more likely to occur when the offense was an active one rather than a failure to act. However, age differences were found in how offense severity affected forgiveness seeking. Older students were more likely to seek forgiveness when the offense was high rather than low in severity, but younger students did not show this difference. Age differences were also found in the motivations for seeking forgiveness. Finally, teacher ratings of students’ overall prosocial behavior were positively correlated with forgiveness seeking.

The Sentencing Consequences of Federal Pretrial Supervision

Legal variables, such as offense severity and criminal history, principally shape sentencing decisions, but extralegal factors such as race, gender, and age also influence sentencing outcomes. Studies focusing on the effect of pretrial detention on sentencing outcomes usually associate pretrial detention with negative sentencing outcomes. The current study followed 90,037 federal defendants from indictment through sentencing, and measured the effects of pretrial detention on sentencing decisions. Detention (and, to a lesser degree, revocation of pretrial release) was associated with increased likelihood of receiving a prison sentence and greater sentence length, even when controlling for offense severity and criminal history scores.

A Further Examination of the Liberation Hypothesis in Capital Murder Trials

The liberation hypothesis argues that the effects of extra-legal factors such as victim and/or offender race on sentencing outcomes are conditioned by legally relevant factors, particularly the severity or the strength of the case. Where the evidence is weak or contradictory or the offense is less severe, decision makers are most liberated to use extra-legal factors in reaching their decisions. This study uses data on a large sample of capital murder trials in North Carolina from 1977 to 2009 to test this hypothesis. The results show that the effects of extra-legal factors (specifically, the race of offender–race of victim dyad) vary across levels of offense severity, but in a complex manner. Most notably, Black defendant–White victim dyads demonstrated an increased probability of death sentences at high levels of severity, but decreased probabilities at lower levels of severity.