Classifying Reactions to Wrongdoing: Taxonomies of Misdeeds, Sanctions, and Aims of Sanctions

by R. Murray Thomas

While conducting research into crimes, the treatment of crimes and the aim of these treatments, Thomas was frustrated by the lack of an available classification system that organized this material. This book was written to end that frustration. By looking at existing and potential misdeeds, sanctions and the stated goals of these sanctions, Thomas discovered a method to organize this information. Classifying Reactions to Wrongdoing provides three comprehensive taxonomies for categorizing (1) crimes, sins, breaches of custom, and other misdeeds, (2) sanctions and treatments which people recommend perpetrators of misdeeds should experience, and (3) the aims of such sanctions and treatments. This unique book would be of interest to psychologists, sociologists, criminologists, philosophers, and others interested in ethics, law, and moral development.

232 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 1995