Gender violence encompasses a multitude of morally problematic psychological, physical, and sexual behaviors that, in most countries, constitute criminal offenses. In this study, we investigate the association between moral foundations ( Care, Fairness, Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity) and punitive responses to gender violence offenses. Our case study focuses on gender violence in Portugal, a country in which these offenses are a prevalent social problem. We collected data on gender violence legal cases decided in Portuguese courts between 2002 and 2022, and we used a latent class cluster analysis model to identify the complex patterns in the data and reduce such patterns to a distinct number of clusters. Four main clusters unravel latent relations between the foundations mapped in the legal narratives and corresponding punitive responses: (i) Affirmative with suspended prison time (moral rhetoric rooted in Authority); (ii) Mixed outcomes but no prison time (moral rhetoric rooted in Sanctity); (iii) Affirmative with lengthy prison time large compensation (moral rhetoric rooted in Loyalty and Care); and (iv) Affirmative with court fines (moral rhetoric rooted in Fairness). The moral foundations provide a valuable lens to understand the problem of gender violence, but further research is needed to establish the causal mechanisms between morality and punitive responses to gender violence.

中文翻译：

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葡萄牙法院裁决性别暴力案件的道德基础

性别暴力包括多种道德上有问题的心理、身体和性行为，在大多数国家，这些行为构成刑事犯罪。在这项研究中，我们调查了道德基础（关怀、公平、忠诚、权威和神圣）与对性别暴力犯罪的惩罚措施之间的关联。我们的案例研究重点关注葡萄牙的性别暴力，这些犯罪行为是该国普遍存在的社会问题。我们收集了 2002 年至 2022 年间葡萄牙法院判决的性别暴力法律案件的数据，并使用潜在类别聚类分析模型来识别数据中的复杂模式，并将这些模式减少到不同数量的聚类。四个主要组揭示了法律叙述中映射的基础与相应的惩罚性反应之间的潜在关系：（i）缓刑的肯定（植根于权威的道德修辞）；(ii) 结果好坏参半，但没有入狱（植根于神圣的道德修辞）；(iii) 肯定长期监禁和巨额赔偿（植根于忠诚和关怀的道德修辞）；(iv) 赞成法院罚款（植根于公平的道德修辞）。道德基础为理解性别暴力问题提供了宝贵的视角，但需要进一步研究来建立道德与性别暴力惩罚性反应之间的因果机制。