The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 6: Mens Rea
Page 3: Innocents
It’s also one of the reasons why our emotions are so much stronger when we see very young children suffering—unlike adults, they simply CANNOT have done anything to deserve it.
Sweet little kid looking up worriedly at a man in a wifebeater holding an empty beer bottle
As we’ll see, these kinds of considerations play out in criminal justice in several ways. Our sense of justice demands that the State only punish people who DESERVE it.
But what does that mean?
That strength of emotion has little to do with Just World and everything to do with biology. Just World would be the way we rationalize it.
I don’t see why both can’t be at play here. Obviously saying we react so strongly to attacks on children is purely caused by Just World is a bit ridiculous, a strong drive to protect children is found in almost any mammal and is clearly beneficial to a specie’s survival. But Just World can enhance these feelings when it comes to children.
And yet in some situations, we’re denied the rationalization, thus when the tool for mitigating our emotional response is gone, the emotions are stronger. There are other factors, sure, but let’s not pretend the other factors are the only factors.