Showing Remorse Law And The Social Control Of Emotion

About this book

"Whether or not wrongdoers show remorse and how they show remorse are matters that attract great interest both in law and in popular culture. In capital trials in the United States, it can be a question of life or death whether a jury believes that a wrongdoer showed remorse. And in wrongdoings that capture the popular imagination, public attention focuses not only on the act but on whether the perpetrator feels remorse for what they did. But who decides when remorse should be shown or not shown, and whether it is genuine or not genuine? In contrast to previous academic studies on the subject, the primary focus of this work is not on whether the wrongdoer meets these expectations over how and when remorse should be shown, but on how the community reacts when these expectations are met or not met. This book will be of interest to those in the fields of sociology, law, socio-legal studies, and criminology as well as to those readers with general interest in the topic of remorse"--Page i.