Making the punishment fit the crime and the criminal: Attributions of dangerousness as a mediator of liability

This research examines how individuals use information regarding characteri stics of crimes (e.g., crime severity) and characteristics of the offender (e.g., prior criminal record) to form an impression of the criminal as dang erous to society, and to make liability judgments. Two studies presented co llege students and community members with crime scenarios and asked for rat ings of crime severity, likelihood of recidivism, perceived dangerousness o f the offender, and liability. Type of crime, severity, and likelihood of r ecidivism significantly predicted both liability and perceived dangerousnes s. Furthermore, in crimes against people only, the effects of severity and recidivism on liability were partially mediated by individuals' perceptions of the offender as criminally dangerous. The discussion examines the impli cations of these findings for attribution theory and sentencing in the crim inal-justice system.