Severity of Formal Sanctions as a Deterrent to Deviant Behavior

Salem, Richard G.; Bowers, William J.

doi:10.2307/3053071

Cited by 23 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Likewise, another critical variable in Rational Choice theory is the seriousness of the offense which shapes the severity of the potential punishment, was not a significant variable in shaping the likelihood of walking while intoxicated all else equal. These results support the work of those who argue that there are no direct effects, regarding the perceived certainty and severity of sanctions, on deterring an individual's decision to deviate (Salem & Bowers, 1970).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

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Factors shaping the decision of college students to walk or drive under the influence of alcohol: A test of Rational Choice theory

Mason

Monk–Turner

2010

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy

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Aims: Rational Choice theory was tested to better understand the differences in behaviour regarding walking and driving under the influence of alcohol. Methods: Students at a residential college campus in Virginia were surveyed. Findings: Results show that students were less likely to walk or drive while intoxicated if they believed such behaviour was morally wrong and if they knew few others who had engaged in such behaviour without negative consequences (a measure of punishment avoidance). If students reported that driving while intoxicated was a serious problem, which would result in like punishment, they were less likely to drive under the influence all else equal. Notably, certainty of punishment did not significantly impact differences between students with regard to the likelihood of driving under the influence. Conclusions: We found limited support for Rational Choice theory in understanding differences in the likelihood of walking and driving under the influence of alcohol.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 89%

“…In a study of college students, Salem and Bowers (1970) found that 'for both getting drunk and violating alcohol-use rules, the per interval effects within the disapproval contexts are very small' (p. 28). The certainty and severity of formal sanctions had no direct effect on deterring the individual.…”

Section: Formal Sanctionsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Factors shaping the decision of college students to walk or drive under the influence of alcohol: A test of Rational Choice theory

Mason

Monk–Turner

2010

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy

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“…The results presented here suggest deterrence does not seem to be operating. This conforms to research into the effects of legitimacy on minor rule violations (Tyler, 1990; see also Paternoster et al, 1983), but it departs from some research on student misconduct (Michaels and Miethe, 1989;Salem and Bowers, 1970;Tittle and Rowe, 1973). Tittle and Rowe (1973) implemented moral appeals and the threat of a sanction when giving students the opportunity to cheat and determined that the moral appeal had no effect but the sanction threat reduced student cheating.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 57%

“…The existence of honor codes at universities is linked to less student cheating (McCabe and Trevino, 1993;Salem and Bowers, 1970). Honor codes may influence cheating because of the messages they send and because they enhance legitimacy.…”

Section: Legitimacy and Academic Misconductmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ability of Legitimate Authorities to Reduce Academic Misconduct

Burruss¹,

Wells

Zeman³

2010

Journal of Crime and Justice

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This study examines how students' perceptions of the legitimacy of university officials affect academic misconduct. By surveying a sample of students in a large Midwestern university, the authors use structural equation modeling to test the esfects of legitimacy of the university officials and the legitimacy of the law on six forms of academic misconduct: cheating during an exam, allowing another student to copyfi.om their exam, not reporting incidents of cheating, using notes on a closed exam, not reporting another student for having someone else write their paper, and lying to an instructor to make up a quiz or exam. For all of the misconduct behaviors, the legitimacy of the university was not predictive although an overall perception in the legitimacy of the law was predictive in copying answers and allows another student to cheat. In all six models, students' own belie3 about the morality of the behaviors were predictive. The implications for addressing student misconduct are discussed.

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“…Rodgers and Bullock (1976a: 165) find that strong enforcement is the major explanation of school desegregation in 31 Georgia school districts. The public law literature generally finds that the probability of being sanctioned is more important than the size of the penalty in exacting compliance (Tittle and Rowe, 1974;Salem and Bowers, 1972;Logan, 1975;Erickson and Gibbs, 1975).…”

Section: Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%