The Role of Just Desserts, Deterrence, and an Apology in Recommending Punishment for Violations of HIV Non-Disclosure Laws

<p>HIV non-disclosure laws, which require people with HIV to disclose their HIV serostatus to potential sexual partners, are common in the U.S. This thesis applied philosophical theories of punishment to examine why people would punish these law violators. Specifically, retribution/just deserts (i.e., an eye for an eye) and deterrence (i.e., general crime prevention) were examined as punishment motivations. Additionally, offender apology was investigated as a potential moderator of the effects of retribution on punishment. A 2 (Just Deserts) X 2 (Deterrence) X 2 (Apology) ANOVA design was used with recommendations for a prison sentence and financial fine as the dependent measures (<em>N</em> = 233). There was strong support for retribution theory. Apology also moderated the effects of Just Deserts by reducing recommended prison sentences when more serious offenses were committed. There was no support for the use of Deterrence as a motivation for punishment. These findings strengthen the literature supporting the importance of retribution as a motivation for punishment and it documents the novel finding that offender apology moderates the effects of the retribution/just deserts manipulation on punishment recommendations.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Woody, William Alexander

Contributors dc:contributor

• Valerian J. Derlega
• Robin J. Lewis
• Louis H. Janda

• HIV
• Non-disclosure laws
• Experimental Analysis of Behavior
• Law
• Social Psychology

Statement dc:rights

• <p>In Copyright. URI: <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/</a> This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).</p>

Identifier

9781267647702

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.odu.edu:psychology_etds-1182