Judicial sentencing considerations in cases of violent offenders versus sexual offenders.

The overall aim of this study is to explore the judicial sentencing considerations in South Australian criminal cases of violent offenders versus sexual offenders in order to identify aggravating and mitigating factors. A total of 37 cases involving violent offenders ( = 25) and sexual offenders ( = 12) were downloaded from the Courts Administration Authority of South Australia website and subjected to a retrospective content analysis of the text contained in the published judicial sentencing remarks. The results reveal that offender- and offence-related aggravating factors are more salient judicial sentencing considerations in the cases of the violent offenders, whereas victim-related aggravating factors are more salient judicial considerations in the cases of the sexual offenders. Certain mitigating factors that were seen as salient considerations in the cases of the violent offenders - resulting in reduced culpability and a lighter sentence - appear to have had little impact in the cases of the sexual offenders. The implications of the findings for legal practice, social policy and future research are discussed.