Empirical Research on the Public Sense of Penal Policy

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16H03562
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Criminal law
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Matsuzawa Shin 早稲田大学, 法学学術院, 教授 (20350415)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 松原 英世 愛媛大学, 法文学部, 教授 (40372726)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 法意識 / 刑罰 / フォーカスグループ調査 / 熟議民主主義 / 刑法 / 量刑

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this research, we examine the following question: How does the public want to use punishment? have chosen to implement three different types of testing methods. In the first test, we gave a simple questionnaire using keywords such as “criminal” and “penalty”. In the second test, we had subjects read a detailed report on a hypothetical criminal incident. For the third test, we used the focus group research method. As a result, we have got the following knowledge; The public tends to give lenient sentences the more they are educated with accurate information about punishment; and in a court setting, the public tends to give lenient sentences the more they are physically close to the defendant.

Free Research Field

刑法

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年、「民意」が刑事立法の根拠とされることが増えてきているが、そこにいう「民意」とは何を指しているのか。例えば、メディアにおいて、「世間は厳罰を望んでいる」といった言説にしばしば接するが、それは正しく民意を反映しているのか。本研究では、様々な形で民意を測ることにより、実際の犯罪状況や刑罰の用いられ方についての情報が与えられた場合とそうでない場合とでは、人々の意見が異なってくることを明らかにした。