{"title":"Sentencing individuals on cusp-cases: The use of offenders’ backgrounds by Scottish Sheriffs","authors":"Javier Velásquez-Valenzuela","doi":"10.1111/hojo.12568","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>To what extent are accused's backgrounds within the criminal justice system considered during the sentencing process, and if they are, how do judges make sense of them? To better understand this aspect of the sentencing process, this article examines data from interviews with, and observations of, 16 Sheriffs in 14 different Scottish Sheriff Courts. The accused persons’ backgrounds were indeed considered during the sentencing process. However, how Sheriffs constructed their role as sentencers seemed to directly affect how they acknowledged and took them into account.</p>","PeriodicalId":37514,"journal":{"name":"Howard Journal of Crime and Justice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Howard Journal of Crime and Justice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hojo.12568","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
To what extent are accused's backgrounds within the criminal justice system considered during the sentencing process, and if they are, how do judges make sense of them? To better understand this aspect of the sentencing process, this article examines data from interviews with, and observations of, 16 Sheriffs in 14 different Scottish Sheriff Courts. The accused persons’ backgrounds were indeed considered during the sentencing process. However, how Sheriffs constructed their role as sentencers seemed to directly affect how they acknowledged and took them into account.
期刊介绍:
The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice is an international peer-reviewed journal committed to publishing high quality theory, research and debate on all aspects of the relationship between crime and justice across the globe. It is a leading forum for conversation between academic theory and research and the cultures, policies and practices of the range of institutions concerned with harm, security and justice.