How Acceptable is Optimal Deterrence?

The article examines the social acceptability of optimal deterrence policies. While there is much research on lay intuitions of punishment and the counterintuitive nature of economic reasoning, the problem of whether decisions based on optimal deterrence are acceptable remains understudied. I describe two studies which examined how acceptance rates change for different decisions implementing optimal deterrence theory. I found that (1) policies increasing punishment severity are more acceptable than those decreasing it; (2) changes on the level of penal policy are more acceptable than individual court rulings; (3) the acceptance rates decrease as the magnitude of change increases; (4) whether optimal deterrence theory’s recommendations are followed exactly does not significantly affect the acceptability of the decisions. I also found that no optimal deterrence policies were accepted on average or by the majority of the participants