New Directions in Moral Criminology

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

The goal of this thematic panel is to demonstrate the utility of adopting a moral intuitionist/emotionalist approach to the study of criminological topics. The papers draw in varying degrees on the explosion of research that has occurred in the field of moral psychology (Greene 2013; Haidt 2012), which weaves together scholarship in psychology, behavioral economics, anthropology, and neuroscience to formulate what has been referred to as a “new synthesis” in moral psychology research (Haidt, 2007). The new synthesis is built on three empirically validated pillars: intuitive primacy is the notion that moral judgments are initially experienced as intuitions, which precede and influence moral reasoning; moral pluralism is the notion that individuals are capable of experiencing moral intuitions in domains that go beyond care (Gilligan, 1982) and justice (Kohlberg, 1981); and moral socialization is the idea that socialization shapes the variety of moral concerns about which people have intuitions. In this thematic panel, we showcase current criminological research applying these insights in studies of delinquency, offending, sex buying, sentencing, and self-control.

Sub Unit

• Area II. Perspectives on Crime / 1. Biological, Bio-social, and Psychological Perspectives

Division of Special Interests

• Division Session of Interest / Division of Biopsychosocial Criminology

• Division Session of Interest / Division of Experimental Criminology

Individual Presentations

• Morality and Delinquency: Toward a Moral Intuitionist Approach - Eric Silver, Pennsylvania State University; Jasmine R. Silver, Rutgers University - Newark

• Moral Emotions, Counterfactual Emotions, and Deterrence - Justin Pickett, University at Albany, SUNY; Jonathan Intravia, Ball State University; Sean Patrick Roche, Texas State University

• Moral Intuitions and Judicial Sentencing - Jeffrey T. Ulmer, Pennsylvania State University; Eric Silver, Pennsylvania State University; Jasmine R. Silver, Rutgers University - Newark; Lily Hanrath, Pennsylvania State University

• Moral Purity and Perceived Harm as Constraints on Sex Buying Among American Men - Jasmine R. Silver, Rutgers University - Newark; Justin Pickett, University at Albany, SUNY; J.C. Barnes, University of Cincinnati; Stephanie Bontrager Ryon, Tarleton State University; Dominique Roe-Sepowitz, Arizona State University

• Get Ahold of Yourself! Measuring the Moralization of Self-Control - Lily Hanrath, Pennsylvania State University; Eric Silver, Pennsylvania State University