The purpose of this study is to examine on perceived deterrence of punishment on drunk-driving in Korean society. Deterrence theory assume a rational offender, and emphasizes the threat of punishment to deter the criminal behavior. According to deterrence theory, the deterrent effect of punishment relies on the three aspects of punishment, such as the severity, certainty, and celerity of the punishment. Numerous empirical studies on deterrence doctrine try to investigate the deterrent effect of objective/perceptual punishment, but have come to different results by data, methods of research, and criminal types. This study is focus on determinant element and process of perceived deterrence of punishment, including the experiential and emboldening effect of prior criminal behavior and punishment.
The data used in this study are drawn from a self-reported survey conducted in Seoul in 2004 by Korean Institute of Criminal Justice. The sample consists of a total of 1.007 drivers, ages 20-66 years old, but in this study we analyse only the male drivers who reported at least some drinking during the last year(n=642). We try to identify perceived deterrence such as internal, informal(social) deterrence of social sanction social, formal deterrence of criminal justice system, and respectively measure by 3-4 items. Drinking-driving is measured for perceived likelihood drinking and driving in future. To examine the effect of social factors and cognitive factors on perceived deterrence of punishment, we used ANOVA, correlation and regression analyses.
Major findings of our analyses are as follows. The our data have found that perceived risk of internal, formal and informal punishment is related negatively to law offenses. It seems that the effects is not deterrent effects, but the experiential effects. Consequently, this results supported experiential hypotheses.