Public Perceptions of the Seriousness of Crime: Weighing the Harm and the Wrong KU Leuven
The seriousness of crime or ‘crime seriousness’ bears on at least three areas of crime control policy (i.e., criminalization, law enforcement prioritization and sentencing) but is poorly defined. After providing a novel conceptualization of crime seriousness, this article explores the logic—or normative philosophical principles--behind the public’s assessment of crime seriousness and considers how the public’s logic lines up with legal ...