The Rewards of Punishment: A Relational Theory of Norm Enforcement

The Rewards of Punishment describes a new social theory of norms to provide a compelling explanation why people punish. Identifying mechanisms that link interdependence with norm enforcement, it reveals how social relationships lead individuals to enforce norms, even when doing so makes little sense. This groundbreaking book tells the whole story, from ideas, to experiments, to real-world applications. In addition to addressing longstanding theoretical puzzles--such as why harmful behavior is not always punished, why individuals enforce norms in ways that actually hurt the group, why people enforce norms that benefit others rather than themselves, why groups punish behavior that has only trivial effects, and why atypical behaviors are sometimes punished and sometimes not--it explores the implications of the theory for substantive issues, including norms regulating sex, crime, and international human rights.

Author: Christine Horne
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 05/08/2009
Pages: 225
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780804760225

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 08/01/2009 pg. 129

About the Author
Christine Horne is Associate Professor of Sociology at Washington State University. She is editor of Theories of Social Order (Stanford 2003, 2009) with Michael Hechter and Experiments in Criminology and Law with Michal Lovaglia.