Rational Anger
An International Comparison of Legal Systems
Stina Bergman Blix author Nina Törnqvist author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publishing:25th Mar '25
£145.00
This title is due to be published on 25th March, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
Exploring the rationales behind legal anger, its logic and origins, this book builds on the perspectives of judges and prosecutors in Italy, Sweden, the United States, and Scotland.
When do judges and prosecutors become angry in court, what do they become angry about, and which other emotions open up for anger? Anger brings people to court and is essential in evaluating wrongdoing and attributing blame, but at the same time, anger is seen as a threat to well-reasoned and just decision-making. Drawing on observations, interviews, and shadowing of legal professionals, the text demonstrates how anger is entangled with legal thought and comes into play in legal practices. By comparing the workings and displays of anger found in different legal systems and emotional cultures, the book elucidates assumptions about law, morality, truth, and emotions that we commonly take for granted.
Rational Anger will be of great interest to students and scholars of criminology, criminal justice, sociology, law, social psychology, and organisation studies.
It is the pervasive presence of anger in criminal courts that best epitomises the emotionality of doing justice. In this brilliant study of four legal systems, Stina Bergman Blix and Nina Törnqvist shed light on the vagaries of this primordial emotion in the courtroom: the paradoxes of substance and formality of justice, moral outrage and judicial restraint, functional rationality and irrationality. This quintessential study is a quantum leap in our understanding of the complex nature of emotions and the law.
Susanne Karstedt, Professor in Criminology, Griffith University, Australia
A fascinating and highly readable account of the role anger plays in four distinct legal systems. The international comparisons are eye opening! A terrific addition to the literature on the role of emotion in the law.
Susan A. Bandes, Centennial Professor of Law Emeritus, DePaul University College of Law, USA
This book is a fine piece of research that helps us understand what anger does in our world, revealing that even at the heart of the supposedly rational legal profession, anger can be used to solve problems and make good decisions.”
Mary Holmes, Professor of Emotions and Society, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781032361765
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
114 pages