Addressing the challenges of remorse in the criminal justice system

Abstract

Remorse in offenders appears in a number of criminal justice domains. It is a mitigating factor in sentencing, influences parole decision making, may be influential in offender rehabilitation, and may be valued in forensic mental health. However, evaluation of remorse presents challenges in relation to evidence for remorse and expectations about its performance. Nevertheless, remorse is embedded deeply in criminal justice. The consideration of remorse in relation to emotions of shame, guilt and regret may offer an approach for evaluating remorse in sentencing and for addressing remorse in offender rehabilitation. This approach to understanding and working with remorse requires further elaboration, development and testing.

Key words:

• forensic patient
• offender rehabilitation
• parole
• regret
• remorse
• sentencing
• shame
• social capital

Ethical standards

Declaration of conflicts of interest

Michael Proeve has declared no conflicts of interest

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by the author.