Nature vs. Nurture: An Assessment of Punitiveness

• In Event: Public Perceptions of Victims and Defendants: Identity, Traits, and Stereotypes

Abstract

The nature versus nurture debate is nothing new to the field of criminology. Extensive work has investigated whether biological or environment risk factors play a larger role in the advent of criminal behavior. Despite this, there is a sufficient lack of understanding regarding how individuals perceive both potential sources of risk when it comes to determining offender blameworthiness. The purpose of this study is to examine whether respondents are more or less punitive toward criminal defendants depending on if they were exposed to what could be perceived as biological risk factors compared to environmental risk factors. To capture this, narrative vignettes were randomly assigned to survey takers via the Lucid Theorem platform. Respondents were presented with a vignette capturing one of four potential risk factor scenarios—biological, environmental, no risk, or both—and asked to assign an appropriate sentence to the defendant based on the information provided. An additional manipulation was created to determine whether any differences held up across both violent and non-violent crimes. Findings from the current study provide early insights into the extent to which individuals weigh various risk factors when determining an appropriate sentence.

Authors

• Francesco DiRienzo, University of Cincinnati

• Hexuan Liu, University of Cincinnati