Deterrent effects of sanction severity and the role of procedural justice: An experiment in prisons

• In Event: Prison Working Group: Living and working in prison - Detainees, staff and their interactions

Abstract

Severely experienced sanctions are assumed to have a deterrent effect on an individual’s misbehavior. There are indications that this deterrent effect only occurs if individuals perceive their treatment by authorities as procedurally just.
Using an experimental vignette scenario design (N = 313 detainees and ex-detainees) we manipulated sanction severity and procedural justice by prison wardens across conditions to test the main and interaction effect of sanction severity and procedural justice on misconduct and compliance intentions. Also, we tested whether this interaction effect is mediated by moral evaluation of prison staff, belongingness, experienced relevance of the sanction, and moral disapproval of the sanctioned behavior.
We did not find severer sanctions compared to mild ones to deter from misconduct. Instead, individuals in the severe sanction condition reported lower intentions to comply (η2 = .03). The effect of sanction severity did not depend on procedural justice. Additionally, the effect of sanction severity on misconduct and compliance intentions was mediated by moral devaluation of authorities. Our results show that severe sanctions may backfire and decrease compliance intentions with institutional rules and staff.

Authors

• Franziska M. Yasrebi-de Kom, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR)

• Anja Dirkzwager, NSCR

• Peter van der Laan, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR)

• Paul Nieuwbeerta, Leiden University