Psychology 3313 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Sexual Assault, Conditional Sentence, Extenuating Circumstances

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 3313
• Professor: Janes

Document Summary

Fundamental purpose: to contribute to respect for the law and maintaining a safe and just society. You want to prevent a person from committing more harm and you want to rehabilitate. General deterrence: let higher society know that this behavior will not. Specific deterrence: separate offenders from the rest of society. To bring closure to victims and their loved ones. Should be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and how much the defendant was responsible. Aggravating circumstances make the crime even more serious than it. Mitigating circumstances makes the perpetrator less responsible (ex. would have otherwise been (ex. Sexual assault of a student by a teacher) Woman in an abusive relationship shooting her partner) Should be similar to those of similar cases. If some people are going to jail for drug charges and others are receiving conditional releases then that"s not right. Offenders should not be imprisoned if other options are appropriate.