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Punishment in Practice
Conference proceeding

Punishment in Practice

Andrew Hosmanek
Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, Vol.2016(1), pp.1235-1240
01/2016
DOI: 10.5465/ambpp.2016.164

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Abstract

Ethical breaches committed by professionals are an important problem, both within the professions and for society as a whole. In this study, I examine breaches committed in one of the oldest and most-regulated professions, law, across three states. As the first large-scale quantitative study of the punishment of professional ethical breaches, this study yields information about the targets and intentionality of breaches, the demographics and conduct of the professionals who commit breaches, and how these factors combine in determining punishment. This study shows several potential disconnects between how decision-makers say they will punish, and how they actually punish. I show that, contrary to punishment theory, neither the target nor the intentionality of the offense matter in determining punishment. I show that neither prior good acts, nor a record of prior offenses, mattered. I show that offenders impaired by mental health issues or substance abuse commit different types of offenses. I also show that decision-makers extend more lenience only to those impaired offenders who abuse alcohol. Finally, I show that an offender’s noncooperation with his or her own investigation may be one of the most important factors in determining punishment, which raises questions of justice.

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