Citation

Hoffman PB, Hardyman PL. J. Crim. Justice 1986; 14(5): 413-431.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1986, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0047-2352(86)90109-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Findings from the National Survey of Crime Severity, the largest survey ever conducted of how the general public in the United States ranks the seriousness of a variety of offenses, are compared with the offense severity index used by the U.S. Parole Commission as one component of its decision-making guidelines. This comparison illustrates a practical method for using survey research to provide feedback to criminal justice policymakers. The necessity of distinguishing between harm and culpability, when examining the concept of