Abstract:
A significant forum upon which the stigma of criminality uses to be worked out is the penal court room. By participatant observation, it gives data at hand for 6 approaches each of which look on the penal process from the standpoint of a special condition for sentencing: the approaches of legal positivism, of class-discrimination, of group-dynamics, of degradation-ceremonies, of the judge’s attitudes, and of problem-solving. Reporting a small empirical investigation the authors acknowledge their method of observation and discuss some hypotheses.