Exploring Theories and Justifications in Punishment Philosophy

1239 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Theories of punishment utilitarian

PUNISHMENT PHILOSOPHY Punishment refers to the deliberate infliction of hardship on an actual or supposed offender for a wrongful act for instance moral transgression or legal transgression. Punishment requires having a legal or political justification since it constitutes of inflicting a pain or deprivation which is equal to that which is inflicted by perpetrator of a crime on his victim. There are several philosophy punishment theories which include; deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, retribution, vengeance and restoration. All these theories have a justification for punishment of criminals. The punishment theories can be grouped into two general divisions in punishment philosophy. These are utilitarian and retributive theories. …show more content…

This theory of punishment has an appropriate purpose of corrections which is to prevent crimes but the means of accomplishing this purpose is inappropriate. The primarily used means is incarceration. For instance when an offender is a thief, the hand could be cut and if the offender is a spy, the eyes are gouged out. Such steps are taken in order to maintain security under the incapacitation theory of punishment. However the offenders with quite minor crimes suffer most but they can undertake rehabilitation training courses. After such courses are completed successfully the offenders will be considered to be no longer a danger to other citizens. Incapacitation cannot be counted on as a long-term solution to crime and thus rehabilitation is the best option to crime. Deterrence …show more content…

This step is not relevant as the convict has already suffered the punishment and rehabilitation won’t work. Rehabilitation should be considered first in order for the convict to benefit from the rehabilitation programs.

Illustration under Medical Model The rehabilitation method is illustrated under the medical model whereby criminality is treated is treated in an approach same to treating a physical disease. This take is important as the convict is able to be rightly treated in terms of the crime committed and the outcome is a law abiding citizen.

Illustration under Custodial Model The incapacitation method is illustrated under custodial model whereby the convict can be either banished from the community or incarcerated. These two ways of punishment are both not favorable to the offender and thus any option is not preferred as they negatively impact on the offender. Rehabilitation presents proper means of

Show More
Related

  • Definitions Of Compassionate Release

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    Compassionate release is a program that is to give permission to some proper to be chosen as a seriously ill prisoners to die outside of prison before sentence completion. Incarceration putting in prison or another enclosure is justified on 4 principles: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation and incapacitation. Retribution is refers to the idea that offenders should be punished for committing crimes when they freely violate existing social rules. Rehabilitation to bring a prisoner back to a healthy life condition after an illness, injury, drug problem. Deterrence involves the establishment of clear consequences for criminal activities, which were created to make people think twice about engaging in those activities. Last incapacitation removing the prisoners from the society against which they are deemed to have offended.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Rehabilitation And Deterrence

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is no simple right or wrong solution, there is simply choosing the best and most appropriate choice for the specific case. Choosing to use the combination of rehabilitation and deterrence is quite conflicting of one another. But some cases call for help and treatment, and so call for punishment. There are so many factors that contribute to a case, that the decision can be altered so fast by the smallest detail. The criminal justice system is complex, brutal, and sometimes unfair, but deciding on the right goal for the criminal can make all the

    Read More

  • The Punishment Imperative Summary

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Punishment Imperative, a book based on the transition from a time when punishment was thought to be necessarily harsh to a time where reform in the prion system is needed, explains the reasons why the grand social experiment of severe punishment did not work. The authors of the book, Todd R. Clear and Natasha A. Frost, strongly argue that the previous mindset of harsh punishment has been replaced due to political shifts, firsthand evidence, and spending issues within the government. Clear and Frost successfully assert their argument throughout the book using quantitative and qualitative information spanning from government policies to the reintegration of previous convicts into society.

    Read More

  • Retribution Model Of Punishment Essay

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    Incapacitation is a form of punishment that removes an offender from society. This model protects the public by getting the criminals off the street. Deterrence is implemented by punishing a person and using them as an example to deter others from criminal activity or through punishment that deters the individual from committing further acts. Rehabilitation is a prevention model that avoids future criminal activity of an offender by providing treatment and teaching them how to correct their path. Utilitarianism is consistent with preventative models of punishment and suggests that offenders act rationally and punishment that lowers crime will benefit society and outweighs individual harm.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of 'The Prisoner's Dilemma'

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Western cultures imprisonment is the universal method of punishing criminals (Chapman 571). According to criminologists locking up criminals may not even be an effective form of punishment. First, the prison sentences do not serve as an example to deter future criminals, which is indicated, in the increased rates of criminal behavior over the years. Secondly, prisons may protect the average citizen from crimes but the violence is then diverted to prison workers and other inmates. Finally, inmates are locked together which impedes their rehabilitation and exposes them too more criminal

    Read More

  • Institutionalization In Shawshank Redemption

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    This objective rests on the assumption that there was some factor going into why the crime was committed in the first place, and that that factor can be either fixed or eliminated. There are many different approaches to rehabilitation including therapy, education, or some combination of the two. Generally the rehabilitation process begins with addressing the problems which led to criminal behavior, and then helping inmates find other ways to solve those problems that do not include criminal

    Read More

  • Acidivism And Recidivism

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    The study found that within three years two thirds of those prisoners were rearrested. Punitive is inflicting or intended as punishment but this punishment should not be compared to or identified as punishment that occurs prior to disciplinary actions carried out by a parent. It can also describe the unpleasant result of an action on a large scale, like the punitive effects higher taxes will have on the middle class. This paper will focus in depth on the prejudices of the recidivism and punitive action against minorities. To begin to understand what is meant by recidivism and its complexities we have to first examine the components of crimes and there complex consequences. We cannot have a comprehensive explanation for the occurrence of prisionization and recidivism until we consider the crimes and persons involved. After they have served out their sentences, the treatment among criminals is a controversial subject which is then swayed by personal opinions of the appropriate treatment for the specific crime. The biggest complication here is providing an adequate amount of substantial evidence that proves a person has been reconvicted by their own faults, not based on the opportunities that society provides them

    Read More

  • Herbert Morris's Theory Of Punishment

    1614 Words  | 4 Pages

    Herbert Morris and Jean Hampton both view punishment as important to a healthy society. However, their views on what kind of role does punishment plays in a healthy society are vastly different. Morris believes that when one commits a crime they “owe a debt to the society and the person they wronged” and, therefore the punishment of that person is retributive, and a right for those who committed this wrong (270). Hampton, on the other hand, believes that punishment is a good for those who have strayed in the path of being morally right. Out of the two views presented, I believe that Hampton view is more plausible, and rightly places punishment as a constructive good that is better suited for society than Morris’s view.

    Read More

  • Advantages Of The Danish Prison System

    1492 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are two theories that being considered widely for their implementation in the justice system. The first theory is called the theory of retribution

    Read More

  • Probation Essay

    1094 Words  | 3 Pages

    Determinate sentencing practices do not accommodate the goals of probationary practices and terms. The ultimate purpose to probations was to bring fairness, humanity, and utility to punitive practices. This process has been hinder through probations use of a net-widening scheme that focuses more on the ideas of the offense, rather than the needs of the offender. Moreover, mandatory sentencing stratagies that guide incarceration practices have been shown to have a negative effect on reducing recidivism rates. Determinate sentencing used as crime control method, does not offer a means to producing a resolution to crime. It merely falsifies a crime solution.

    Read More

  • Imprisonment is Ineffective as Punishment

    1773 Words  | 4 Pages

    Coyle (2005). The 'Standard'. To say whether using prison as a form of punishment has aid in the quest of tackling the crime problem, one must first consider the purposes of the prison.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Purpose of Punishment Approaches

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    Feinburg (1994, cited in: Easton, 2012: 4) says that punishment is “a symbolic way of getting back at the criminal, of expressing a kind of vindictive resentment”. When punishing an offender there are two key principles that determine the kind of punishment. These are the Retributivism response and the Reductivist response. The first principle, Retributivism, focuses on punishing the offence using 'denunciation' where they denounce the crime that has been committed so society knows they have done wrong, and it also uses 'just deserts' where the equity 'eye for an eye' is the main idea. The second principle, Reductivism, believes that deterrence, incapacitation and rehabilitation is the best strategy to use to punish, its aim is to reduce crime and use punishment to serve a purpose. This essay will look closer and outline the purpose of just deserts and deterrence as punishment in society, although these punishments are used widely across most crimes, this essay will look specifically at prolific offenders.

    Read More

  • Justifications for Punishment in Modern Society

    1614 Words  | 4 Pages

    Provide the justifications for punishment in modern society. Punishment functions as a form of social control and is geared towards “imposing some unwanted burden such as fines, probations, imprisonment, or even death” on a convicted person in return for the crimes they committed (Stohr, Walsh, & Hemmens, 2013, p.6). There are four main justifications for punishment and they are: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. There is also said to be a fifth justification of reintegration as well.

    Read More

  • Consequences of Crime

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    As part of the criminal process, the American justice system offers different levels of consequence for actions that are in violation of the penal code, sometimes after many months or years after the crime has been committed. “Currently, five general types of punishment are in use in the United States; fines, probation, intermediate punishments, imprisonment, and death” (Bohm & Haley, 2010, p. 14). These examples, while basically punative in nature, are intended to be carried out by the local Department of Rehabilitative Corrections or halfway facility, and serve as the main deterrents of crime. Dependent upon the severity of the offense, a pre-determined period of incarceration or detention is given; however, as in the case of parole, a criminal may only spend a fraction of their prison term before release.

    Read More

  • The Purpose of Punishment in a Modern Society

    2222 Words  | 5 Pages

    Punishment has been in existence since the early colonial period and has continued throughout history as a method used to deter criminals from committing criminal acts. Philosophers believe that punishment is a necessity in today’s modern society as it is a worldwide response to crime and violence. Friedrich Nietzche’s book “Punishment and Rehabilitation” reiterates that “punishment makes us into who we are; it creates in us a sense of responsibility and the ability to take and release our social obligations” (Blue, Naden, 2001). Immanuel Kant believes that if an individual commits a crime then punishment should be inflicted upon that individual for the crime committed. Cesare Beccaria, also believes that if there is a breach of the law by individuals then that individual should be punished accordingly.

    Read More

More about Exploring Theories and Justifications in Punishment Philosophy

Open Document