Denunciation
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Denunciation (from Latin denuntiare, "to denounce") is the act of publicly assigning to a person the blame for a perceived wrongdoing, with the hope of bringing attention to it.[1][2] Notably, centralized social control in
possible.Commonly, denunciation is justified by proponents because it allegedly leads to a better society by reducing or discouraging crime. The punishment of the denounced person is said to be justified because the convicted criminal is morally deserving of punishment. Yet, this reasoning does not present a compelling argument for society's right to inflict punishment on a specific individual. Society may recognize a crime's impact on law-abiding society, but traditional punishment theories do not even attempt to deal with punishment's effect on law-abiding society. Just as punishment may impact potential lawbreakers, it may also impact those who abide by the law. To fully understand society's right to inflict punishment, one must recognize punishment's full impact on all segments of society, not just on potential lawbreakers.[6]
History
Athenian democracy used the process of ostracism to allow popular anonymous denunciations.
However, a distinction must be made between denunciation and justified reporting. According to a common understanding[
See also
References
- ^ "denounce". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
- S2CID 145252854.
- JSTOR 20757865.
- ISSN 0038-5859.
- S2CID 151547072.
- ^ Rychlak, Ronald J. (1990): Society's moral right to punish: A further exploration of the denunciation theory of punishment. Tulane Law Review, vol. 65, No. 2, 1990, online since 5 Jun 2013 - " To fully understand society's right to inflict punishment, one must recognize punishment's full impact on all segments of society, not just the potential lawbreakers."
Further reading
- Bergemann, Patrick (2017), Denunciation and Social Control, American Sociological Review, vol. 82, issue 2, 2017, first online, February 1, 2017
- Kubátová, Hana (2018). "Accusing and Demanding: Denunciations in Wartime Slovakia". In Skitolsky, Lissa; Glowacka, Dorota (eds.). New Approaches to an Integrated History of the Holocaust: Social History, Representation, Theory. ISBN 978-0-8101-3768-4.
- Lucas, Colin (2017): The Theory and Practice of Denunciation in the French Revolution. The Journal of Modern History, vol. 68 (4), pp. 768-785, first online, December 4, 1996