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Emotions In Criminal Justice Summary

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Analytical Critique of Emotions and Criminal Justice
The article, Emotions and Criminal Justice, by Susanne Karstedt (2002) seeks to address how emotions and penal law shape the criminal justice system. The purpose of the study is clearly stated in the abstract throughout the whole article. The author seeks to address two aspects of the return of emotions within criminal justice: how the emotional culture has changed within society and its responsibility for re-emotionalization in penal law.
In direct relation to the purpose of the article, there are three questions that are highlighted within the abstract. The three questions addressed are: (1) whether emotions are innate or primitive reactions that play an important role in criminal justice, …show more content…

At the beginning of the article, under Emotions and penal law, the author begins by introducing emotions and how it plays into law. Karstedt throws in perspectives from prominent social theorists and mentions that emotion such as fear is power tool in the criminal justice system because it instills compliance. The author’s main interest of the “return of emotions” has been important in two areas of the criminal justice system and penal polices: “public discourse of crime and sanctions in criminal justice system based on aroused emotions” (Karstedt, 2002, p. 301). In a society constituted with emotions of moral disgust, shame, and revulsion, lead offenders to take the most severe punishment because of the justice seeked by victims and the public. These emotions dealt with punishments trigger our moral emotions and it may help to consider the foundations that shape our attitude toward crime and …show more content…

The concept may sound reliable, however, there isn’t any set of ground rules to carry it out. That is to say as much of this sounds ideal in the article, however, doesn’t translate well to the real world. Frankly, emotions are hard to handle or even interpret because of many factors, especially since it one’s personal response on how they feel at a given time. The article proposes great points of views which provide many examples, especially of prominent people like Plato, Elias, and Durkheim. With these authors credited in, it provides the article with reliability. Furthermore, the article is well researched based on the findings and is logically

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