Contending Theories of Criminal Law: Statutory Penalties Versus Public Preferences

Abstract

Consistent with the "consensus theory" of criminal law, the findings indicate substantial congruence between statutory penalties and the kinds of penalties preferred by respondents in an Arizona sample survey. Howeuer, that con gruence is largely peculiar to penalties as they apply to adult offenders. More over, when it comes to the magnitude of penalties, there is much less con gruence; and that finding lends support to the contending theory, the "conflict theory" of criminal law. Both theories are judged defective because neither accounts for enormous variation among types of crimes as to the congruence between statutory penalties and penalties preferred by the public.