Relationship between crime victims’ expression of (dis)satisfaction with the dialogue they had with perpetrators and the punishment required by the public: Examining how people judge the appropriateness of sentences

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between crime victims’ expression of (dis)satisfaction with the dialogue they had with the perpetrators of crimes against them in restorative justice conferences and the sentences required by the public. A model comprised of a direct path from a victim’s expression of (dis)satisfaction to the sentence given to an offender, a path from the victim’s expression of (dis)satisfaction through the victim’s psychological recovery to the sentence given to the offender, and a path from the offender’s remorse, through the need to prevent further such crimes, to the sentencing of the offender was created and examined in high and low offense severity conditions. Data analysis of 562 samples was conducted. The results showed that regardless of offense severity, the respondents perceived that the victim had psychologically recovered to a greater extent when the victim expressed satisfaction. However, they did not show that the perception of a greater psychological recovery by the victim lessened the sentence received by the offender. Specifically, in the low severity conditions the expression of victim satisfaction increased sentencing. Conversely, regardless of offense severity, the perception that the offender was remorseful lessened the sentence received by the offender.