NCJ Number
80979
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 5 Issue: 2/3 Dated: special issue (1981) Pages: 123-139
Date Published
1981
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The study investigates how English magistrates change in their sentencing policy and attitudes toward defendants as a result of the experience gained during the first year on the bench and as a result of the mandatory training program.
Abstract
An experimental design evaluated the effects of training in which a group of newly appointed magistrates was randomly assigned to defer their training for 1 year and compared to those who completed their training during the first year. Using a control group of nonmagistrates enabled a quasi-experimental evaluation of the effects of the experience on the bench. Magistrates and controls completed a questionnaire in which they sentenced cases at the time of appointment and again 1 year later. Results showed that magistrates, as a result of experience, became more committed to the aims of deterrence and punishment, more pessimistic about the prospects of reforming defendants and less sympathetic towards them, and regarded severe sentences as more appropriate. The training program however, tended to ameliorate these effects. Implications of these findings for magistrate training are discussed. Tables and 17 references are supplied. (Author abstract modified)