Deterrence and road trauma

Paul Wilson; RA Lincoln

Deterrence and road trauma

Paul Wilson
, RA Lincoln

Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › Research

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Abstract

[Extract]
It is popularly believed that one of the main functions of the criminal law is to frighten people and hence deter them from committing crimes. However, it is a common misconception that in relation to all crimes, the greater the penalty, the fewer will be the number of people who commit the crime. Such a concept of human behaviour is not supported by the facts.

Hawkins and Zimring have called deterrence "the problematic postulate".

They point out that when a penalty is increased there exists five logically distinct groups.
1. Those people who were not tempted to commit the crime before.
2. Those who still commit the crime any way.
3. Those who will be tempted to commit the crime because of the increased penalty.
4. Those who would have committed the crime but are deterred by
the new penalty.
5. Those who stop committing that particular crime but substitute other forms of criminal behaviour.

Original language	English
Number of pages	23
Publication status	Published - Apr 1983
Externally published	Yes
Event	Royal Automobile Club of Queensland - Duration: 1 Apr 1983 → 1 Apr 1983

Other

Other	Royal Automobile Club of Queensland
Abbreviated title	RACQ
Period	1/04/83 → 1/04/83

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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Deterrence and road traumaFinal published version, 13.2 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

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@conference{431bf6058f8648b197783d9437eaba4e,

title = "Deterrence and road trauma",

abstract = "[Extract] It is popularly believed that one of the main functions of the criminal law is to frighten people and hence deter them from committing crimes. However, it is a common misconception that in relation to all crimes, the greater the penalty, the fewer will be the number of people who commit the crime. Such a concept of human behaviour is not supported by the facts. Hawkins and Zimring have called deterrence {"}the problematic postulate{"}. They point out that when a penalty is increased there exists five logically distinct groups. 1. Those people who were not tempted to commit the crime before. 2. Those who still commit the crime any way. 3. Those who will be tempted to commit the crime because of the increased penalty. 4. Those who would have committed the crime but are deterred by the new penalty. 5. Those who stop committing that particular crime but substitute other forms of criminal behaviour.",

author = "Paul Wilson and RA Lincoln",

year = "1983",

month = apr,

language = "English",

note = "Royal Automobile Club of Queensland, RACQ ; Conference date: 01-04-1983 Through 01-04-1983",

}

TY - CONF

T1 - Deterrence and road trauma

AU - Wilson, Paul

AU - Lincoln, RA

PY - 1983/4

Y1 - 1983/4

N2 - [Extract] It is popularly believed that one of the main functions of the criminal law is to frighten people and hence deter them from committing crimes. However, it is a common misconception that in relation to all crimes, the greater the penalty, the fewer will be the number of people who commit the crime. Such a concept of human behaviour is not supported by the facts. Hawkins and Zimring have called deterrence "the problematic postulate". They point out that when a penalty is increased there exists five logically distinct groups. 1. Those people who were not tempted to commit the crime before. 2. Those who still commit the crime any way. 3. Those who will be tempted to commit the crime because of the increased penalty. 4. Those who would have committed the crime but are deterred by the new penalty. 5. Those who stop committing that particular crime but substitute other forms of criminal behaviour.

AB - [Extract] It is popularly believed that one of the main functions of the criminal law is to frighten people and hence deter them from committing crimes. However, it is a common misconception that in relation to all crimes, the greater the penalty, the fewer will be the number of people who commit the crime. Such a concept of human behaviour is not supported by the facts. Hawkins and Zimring have called deterrence "the problematic postulate". They point out that when a penalty is increased there exists five logically distinct groups. 1. Those people who were not tempted to commit the crime before. 2. Those who still commit the crime any way. 3. Those who will be tempted to commit the crime because of the increased penalty. 4. Those who would have committed the crime but are deterred by the new penalty. 5. Those who stop committing that particular crime but substitute other forms of criminal behaviour.

M3 - Paper

T2 - Royal Automobile Club of Queensland

Y2 - 1 April 1983 through 1 April 1983

ER -

Deterrence and road trauma

Abstract

Other

UN SDGs

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