The Emotional Brain and the Guilty Mind: Novel Paradigms of Culpability and Punishment

The book proposes a more humanising narrative of culpability in American criminal law, revising criteria for voluntarism and advancing a paradigm of punishment that values social rehabilitation. It suggests contextualised notions of culpability and a model of punishment that values individual change and social relationships. This may lead to a less punitive, more inclusionary, and non-stigmatising criminal justice system.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 20 October 2022
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

The book challenges the traditional narrative of the "culpable person" in American criminal law by presenting a more humanizing perspective. It aims to revise the criteria of the current voluntarist architecture of culpability and promote a paradigm of punishment that prioritizes social rehabilitation. The book draws on behavioral and neuroscientific insights into the functions of emotions and socio-environmental factors in moral behavior in social settings to construct this narrative. It suggests culpability notions that reflect a more contextualized view of human conduct and argues that these revised notions are better suited to the principle of personal guilt. Additionally, the book proposes a model of punishment that values the dynamic power of change in individuals and acknowledges the importance of social relationships and positive environments in fostering patterns of social (re)integration. Ultimately, the book argues that adopting the proposed models of culpability and punishment, which view people through a more comprehensive lens, can be crucial in transforming criminal justice into a less punitive, more inclusive, and non-stigmatizing system.

Weight: 410g
Dimension: 155 x 233 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509944569