TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Receiving an on the spot penalty: a tale of morality, common sense and law-abidance
JO  - Criminology and criminal justice
A1  - Snow, Adam
SP  - 141
EP  - 159
VL  - 19
IS  - 2
N2  - This article examines citizens' reactions to being issued with an on the spot penalty and the consequences this has for holding a law-abiding identity. Using mundane examples of statutory requirements regulating everyday life (motoring), it is found that people use common-sense purposive reasoning in their interpretation of law which does not match the actual black-letter law application of the specific statutes. The lack of congruence between the purposive understandings of legal requirements and the black-letter application of enforcement agencies allows citizens to maintain a moral position that is aligned with the aims of the law but not its actual requirements. This process reaffirms a belief in law-abidance even where the citizen has been found to break the law.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1748-8958
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1748895817738556
ID  - ref1
ER  -