Heilbrun Kirk, Durham Kelley, Thornewill Alice, Schiedel Rebecca, Pietruszka Victoria, Phillips Sarah, Locklair Benjamin, Thomas Joanna
Department of Psychology, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Behav Sci Law. 2018 Sep;36(5):587-596. doi: 10.1002/bsl.2377. Epub 2018 Oct 8.
Pursuant to recent United States Supreme Court decisions in Miller v. Alabama (2012) and Montgomery v. Louisiana (2016), individuals convicted of crimes committed when they were younger than 18 and for which they received mandatory life sentences are entitled to new sentencing hearings. This study examined public perceptions of such individuals (life-sentenced juveniles, or LSJs). Study participants were 663 adults (52.3% male) ages 22-71 years (M = 36.00, SD = 11.46) recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Each participant received one of a possible four vignettes about a man who was incarcerated for a crime that occurred when he was 17 years old and subsequently sentenced to mandatory life in prison following conviction. Two variables (risk of harming others if released to the community, and circumstances of the crime) were manipulated in a 2 × 2 between-subjects design. Each participant read one vignette and then answered questions relating to appropriateness for release from prison. Results indicate that risk, but not circumstances of the crime, strongly influenced participants' views regarding resentencing. When the individual in the vignette was labeled as high risk, participants described him as less appropriate for release, more deserving of punishment, needing more rehabilitation, and more appropriate for specific and general deterrence. The circumstances of the crime had no effect on participants' responses. This may be important for various reasons, as applicable law does not explicitly identify risk as a consideration in juvenile resentencing. The nonetheless noteworthy empirical influence of risk on perceptions regarding LSJs is discussed in their implications for research, policy, and practice.
根据美国最高法院近期在米勒诉阿拉巴马州案（2012年）和蒙哥马利诉路易斯安那州案（2016年）中的裁决，那些在18岁以下犯罪并被判处强制性终身监禁的人有权获得新的量刑听证会。本研究调查了公众对这类人的看法（被判处终身监禁的青少年，或LSJ）。研究参与者是663名年龄在22至71岁之间的成年人（男性占52.3%）（M = 36.00，标准差 = 11.46），通过亚马逊土耳其机器人（MTurk）招募。每位参与者收到关于一名男子的四个可能的小故事之一，该男子因17岁时犯下的罪行而被监禁，随后在定罪后被判处强制性终身监禁。两个变量（如果释放到社区对他人造成伤害的风险，以及犯罪情节）在一个2×2的被试间设计中进行操纵。每位参与者阅读一个小故事，然后回答与是否适合从监狱释放相关的问题。结果表明，风险而非犯罪情节强烈影响了参与者对重新量刑的看法。当小故事中的人被标记为高风险时，参与者认为他不太适合被释放，更应受惩罚，需要更多的改造，并且更适合进行特殊和一般威慑。犯罪情节对参与者的回答没有影响。这可能因各种原因而很重要，因为适用法律并未明确将风险确定为青少年重新量刑时的一个考虑因素。风险对关于LSJ的看法的显著实证影响在其对研究、政策和实践的影响方面进行了讨论。
