Deconstructing Judicial Expressions of Disgust
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1035Keywords:
Judges, Law, Emotion, DisgustAbstract
Though much has been written about judicial anger and other emotional displays from the judicial bench, comparatively little attention has been paid to disgust. This particular emotion does not seem to be expressed or reflected by judges as much as other negative sentiments or feelings; “disgust” also has an emotional resonance that we might not associate with things like anger and sadness, and exists in more than one form. Focusing on a sample of cases in which judges have used the term, the article questions what type of disgust is being shown (“core” disgust or “socio-moral” disgust), whether the emotion is experienced or articulated, and what the significance is of using the word “disgust” in the judicial narrative.
Downloads
Metrics
Downloads:
PDF 361
References
Ahmed, S., 2004. The Performativity of Disgust. In: S. Ahmed, ed., The Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh University Press, 82-100.
Al-Shawaf, L., Lewis, D., and Buss, D., 2018. Sex Differences in Disgust: Why are Women More Easily Disgusted than Men? Emotion Review [online], 10(2), 149-160. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073917709940 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Bachorowski, J.A., and Owren, M.J., 2008. Vocal Expressions of Emotion. In: L.F. Barrett, M. Lewis and J.M. Haviland-Jones, eds., Handbook of Emotions, 3rd ed. New York: Guilford, 196-210.
Bandes, S., 1999. The Passions of Law. New York University Press.
Bandes, S., 2009. Empathetic Judging and the Rule of Law. Cardozo Law Review De Novo [online], p. 133. Available from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1431230 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Bergman Blix, S., and Wettergren, Å., 2016. A Sociological Perspective on Emotions in the Judiciary. Emotion Review [online], 8(1), 32-37. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073915601226 [Accessed 9 January 2019].
Chapman, H.A., and Anderson, K.A., 2012. Understanding Disgust. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences [online], 1251.1, 62-76. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06369.x [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Chapman, H.A., et al., 2009. In Bad Taste: Evidence for the Oral Origins of Moral Disgust. Science [online], 323(5918), 1222-1226. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1165565 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Devlin, P., 1965. The Enforcement of Morals. Oxford University Press.
Ekman, P., 1999. Basic Emotions. In: T. Dalgleish and M. Power, eds., Handbook of Cognition and Emotion. Chichester: Wiley.
Elmes, D.G., Kantowitz, B.H., and Roediger, H.L. III, 2012. Research Methods in Psychology. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Flam, H., and Kleres, J., 2015. Methods of Exploring Emotions. Abingdon / New York: Routledge.
Gert, J., 2015. Disgust, Moral Disgust and Morality. Journal of Moral Philosophy [online], 12(1), 33-54. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1163/17455243-4681048 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Gutierrez, R., and Giner-Sorolla, R., 2007. Anger, Disgust, and Presumption of Harm as Reactions to Taboo-Breaking Behaviors. Emotion [online], 7(4), 853. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.7.4.853 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Gutierrez, R., Giner-Sorolla, R., and Vasiljevic, M., 2012. Just an Anger synonym? Moral Context Influences Predictors of Disgust Word Use. Cognition and Emotion [online], 26(1), 53-64. Available from: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/02699931.2011.567773 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Haidt, J., 2003. The Moral Emotions. In: R.J. Davidson, K.R. Scherer and H.H. Goldsmith, eds., Handbook of Affective Sciences. Oxford University Press, 852-870.
Haidt, J., et al., 1997. Body, Psyche and Culture: The Relationship Between Disgust and Morality. Psychology and Developing Societies [online], 9(1), 107-131. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/097133369700900105 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Hart, H.L.A., 1963. Law, Liberty, and Morality. Stanford University Press.
Howitt, D., and Cramer, D., 2014. Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology. 4th ed. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Hunter, C., Nixon, J., and Blandy, S., 2008. Researching the Judiciary: Exploring the Invisible in Judicial Decision Making. Journal of Law and Society [online], 35(1S), 76. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2008.00426.x [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Hutcherson, C.A., and Gross, J.J., 2011. The Moral Emotions: A Social–Functionalist Account of Anger, Disgust, and Contempt. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology [online], 100(4), 719. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022408 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Kahan, D., 1999. The Progressive Appropriation of Disgust. In: S. Bandes, ed., The Passions of Law. New York University Press, 63-79.
Kelly, D., and Morar, N., 2014. Against the Yuck factor: on the ideal role of disgust in society. Utilitas [online], 26(2), 153-177. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0953820813000290 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Lee, S.W.S., and Ellsworth, P.C., 2011. Maggots and Morals: Physical Disgust is to Fear as Moral Disgust is to Anger [online]. In: J.J.R. Fontaine, K.R. Scherer and C. Soriano, eds., Components of Emotional Meaning: A Sourcebook. Oxford University Press, 271-280. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592746.003.0018 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Mack, K., and Roach Anleu, S., 2010. Performing Impartiality: Judicial Demeanor and Legitimacy. Law & Social Inquiry [online], 35(1), 137-173. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4469.2009.01180.x [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Maroney, T.A., 2011. Emotional regulation and judicial behavior. California Law Review [online], 99(6), 1485-1555. Available from: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1785616 [Accessed 5 September 2018].
Maroney, T.A., 2012. Angry judges. Vanderbilt Law Review [online], 65(5), 1207-86. Available from: https://www.vanderbiltlawreview.org/2012/10/angry-judges/ [Accessed 2 April 2019].
Maroney, T.A., 2016. Emotion and the Discourse of Judging. In: H. Conway and J. Stannard, eds., The Emotional Dynamics of Law and Legal Discourse. Oxford: Hart, 261-286.
Maroney, T.A., and Gross, J.J., 2014. The ideal of the dispassionate judge: An emotion regulation perspective. Emotion Review [online], 6 (2), 142-151. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073913491989 [Accessed 5 September 2018].
Mellinkoff, D., 1963. The Language of the Law. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Co.
Nabi, R.L., 2002. The Theoretical Versus the Lay Meaning of Disgust: Implications for Emotion Research. Cognition and Emotion [online], 16(5), 695-703. Available from: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1080/02699930143000437 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Nussbaum, M., 1999. ”Secret Sewers of Vice”: Disgust, Bodies and the Law. In: S. Bandes, ed., The Passions of Law. New York University Press, 17-62.
Nussbaum, M., 2004. Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame and the Law. Princeton University Press.
O’Brien, G.C., 2003. Confessions of an Angry Judge. Judicature, 87(5), 251.
Panksepp, J., 2007. Criteria for Basic Emotions: Is DISGUST a Primary Emotion? Cognition and Emotion [online], 21(8), 1819-1828. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930701334302 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Philips, M.L., et al., 1998. Disgust – The Forgotten Emotion of Psychiatry. British Journal of Psychiatry [online], 172(5), 373-375. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.172.5.373 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Plakias, A., 2013. The good and the gross. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice [online], 16(2), 261-278. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/10677-012-9334-y [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Richardson, J.T.E., ed., 1996. Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for Psychology and the Social Sciences. Leicester: British Psychological Society.
Roach Anleu, S., Bergman Blix, S., and Mack, K., 2015. Researching emotion in courts and the judiciary: A tale of two projects. Emotion Review [online], 7(2), 145-150. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073914554776 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Royzman, E.B., and Kurzban, R., 2011. Minding the Metaphor: The Elusive Character of Moral Disgust. Emotion Review [online], 3(3), 269-271. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073911402371 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Royzman, E.B., and Sabini, J., 2001. Something it takes to be an emotion: The interesting case of disgust. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour [online], 31(1), 29-59. Available from: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1111/1468-5914.00145 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Rozin, P., and Fallon, A.E., 1987. A Perspective on Disgust. Psychological Review [online], 94(1), 23. Available from: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0033-295X.94.1.23 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Rozin, P., Haidt, J., and Fincher, K., 2009. From Oral to Moral. Science [online], 323(5918), 1179-1180. Available from: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1126/science.1170492 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Rozin, P., Haidt, J., and McAuley, C.R., 1999. Disgust: The Body and Soul Emotion [online]. In: T. Dalgleish and M. Power, eds., Handbook of Cognition and Emotion. Chichester: Wiley, 429-445. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1002/0470013494.ch21 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Russell, P.S., and Giner-Sorolla, R., 2013. Bodily-Moral Disgust: What It Is, How It Is Different from Anger and Why It Is an Unreasoned Emotion. Psychological Bulletin [online], 139(2), 328. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029319 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Simpson, J., et al, 2006. Is Disgust a Homogeneous Emotion? Motivation and Emotion [online], 30(1), 31-41. Available from: https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1007/s11031-006-9005-1 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Sisk, G.C., Heise, M., and Morriss, A.P., 1998. Charting the Influences on the Judicial Mind: An Empirical Study of Judicial Reasoning. New York University Law Review [online], 73, 1377. Available from: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/741 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Solan, L.M., 2010. The Language of Judges. University of Chicago Press.
Weisman, R., 2016. Showing Remorse: Law and the Social Control of Emotion [online]. Abingdon: Routledge. Available from: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315609089 [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Wistrich, A.J., Rachlinski, J.J., and Guthrie, C., 2014. Heart Versus Head: Do Judges Follow the Law or Follow Their Feelings? Texas Law Review [online], vol. 93, 855. Available from: http://texaslawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Rachlinski-93-4.pdf [Accessed 2 May 2019].
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2019 Heather Conway, John Stannard
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
OSLS strictly respects intellectual property rights and it is our policy that the author retains copyright, and articles are made available under a Creative Commons licence. The Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution No-Derivatives licence is our default licence, further details available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 If this is not acceptable to you, please contact us.
The non-exclusive permission you grant to us includes the rights to disseminate the bibliographic details of the article, including the abstract supplied by you, and to authorise others, including bibliographic databases, indexing and contents alerting services, to copy and communicate these details.
For information on how to share and store your own article at each stage of production from submission to final publication, please read our Self-Archiving and Sharing policy.
The Copyright Notice showing the author and co-authors, and the Creative Commons license will be displayed on the article, and you must agree to this as part of the submission process. Please ensure that all co-authors are properly attributed and that they understand and accept these terms.
