The Function of Punishment

1435 Words3 Pages

The Function of Punishment

"Justice must not only be done but seen to be done". Most would agree

with this statement - the wicked must surely be punished (or should

they? - do two wrongs make a right?) but why is it so important that

the punishment must be seen to be done? To the utilitarian the answer

is simple - punishment must be witnessed in order to deter others from

committing the same act. Thus, to a utilitarian the perception of

punishment is seen as the main, or even the sole, justification for

punishment. Of course, if the wrongdoer is sent to prison for any

length of time he is incapacitated, and thus excluded from doing

further harm. Further, while being punished there may be at least the

hope that the wrongdoer repents and reforms. Both these consequences

are compatible with utilitarian principles as they both serve to

reduce the harm caused by anti-social behaviour. Seen in this way

punishment can be said to have a tripartite function - to deter, to

reform, and to incapacitate. The extent to which any of these

functions are successful is a matter of debate, as is the extent to

which any one of these functions should take priority. Although the

length of this essay precludes any real discussion on this subject, it

would perhaps be as well to mention that broadly speaking those that

stress the importance of reform tend to be of the liberal disposition,

whereas conservatives tend to put more emphasis on the deterrent

aspect of punishment. Both perspectives however are essentially

utilitarian as they both see the function of punishment as being to

minimise the overall quantity of suffering . Also it would perhaps be

true...

... middle of paper ...

...ld be an

extraordinary indictment of human nature. Incorporated in any concept

of punishment must be the concept of justice, and as Strawson points

out, incorporated in the concept of justice is the psychological needs

of society and especially of the victim. Thus, the purpose of

punishment should not only include Justice but must be Justice.

References

Mabbott (1956) Punishment - reprinted from Mind and Philosophy

(April 1956) publisher not known - lecture handout.

Mill.J.S. (1868) Cited in Singer - Applied Ethics (1986) Oxford

University press

Strawson P.F (1982) Freedom and Resentment - cited in Whitely D (1998)

The victim and the Justification of Punishment. Gale Group.

Solomon R. (1990) A Passion for Justice - cited in Whitely D.(1998)

The Victim and the Justification of Punishment. Gale Group.

Show More
Related

  • 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

  • Who's Worse? The Dangers of Bystanders in Witness to the Holocaust

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is common to believe that if no one is stopping you from doing something, then it must be the right thing to do.... ... middle of paper ... ... When people argue that they may get hurt, sometimes we have to make sacrifices for something bigger that everyone will benefit from.

    Read More

  • Suffering In Elie Wiesel's Night

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    An example that shows that humans cannot distinguish right from wrong is when they were running in the winter so that the Russians would not find them. Everyone was very tired, and when they finally took a break, Elie dropped to the ground. Others piled on and the one on the bottom was Juliek. Elie was the only one who tried to move but he did not succeed. Just before his death, Juliek “play[ed] a fragment of a Beethoven concerto” (95). This showed Juliek’s innocence and soft heart. The others knew that there was somebody on the bottom, but were too fatigued to move and silently let Juliek die. They felt that they were right because they were just trying to in order for them to survive and recover from their suffering. However, they didn’t know or care that someone died because of their actions.

    Read More

  • Retribution Model Of Punishment Essay

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    Final Exam Kristina McLaughlin Saint Joseph’s University CRJ 565 Question 1: Word Count The judicial system is based on the norms and values that individuals are held to within society. When a person is found guilty of committing a criminal act, there must be a model that serves as the basis of what appropriate punishment should be applied. These models of punishment are often based off of ethical theories and include retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation, and restoration. The retribution model of punishment views the offender as responsible for their actions and as such, the punishment should fit the crime (Mackie, 1982).

    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

  • Varying Rationales and Ethical Frameworks for Punishment

    2126 Words  | 5 Pages

    What would the criminal justice system be without punishment? Perhaps, the criminal justice system would not serve a function or cease to exist. Punishment is one of the main facets of the criminal justice system. It holds such significance that it even reflects the beliefs and values of a particular society. Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) once said “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” (Pollock, 2010: 315). Punishment has been around since the beginning of civilization. With its rich history, the concept of punishment has been analyzed by some of the most renowned theorists, some of which include Jeremy Bentham, Cesare Beccaria, Adolphe Quetelet and André-Michel Guerry (Pollock, 2010: 318). Once found guilty of an offense the type of punishment must be determined. There are many different rationales used to answer why it is necessary to inflict punishment. Rationales for punishment include retribution, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. To better understand these rationales ethical systems such as utilitarianism, ethical formalism and ethics of care can be used. The general public should be knowledgeable about punishment, even more so should professionals in the criminal justice field because they are directly linked to it in some way.

    Read More

  • Criminal Punishment: Sentencing

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    The sentencing process is created by some of the legislative party, who use their control to decide on the type of criminal punishment. The sentencing guidelines for the judges to go by can be different depending on the jurisdiction and can include different sentencing such as “diversionary programs, fines, probation, intermediate sanctions, confinement in jail, incarceration in a state or federal prison, and the death penalty” (Siegel & Bartollas, 2011, p. 40). In some jurisdictions the death penalty is not included as one of the punishments. Being sentenced is step one of the correction process and is in place to discourage repeat offenders (Siegel & Bartollas, 2011, p. 40). Depending on the crime committed the offender can be sentenced to a consecutive sentence or a concurrent sentence. If an offender is charged for committing more than one crime the judge can give the offender a concurrent sentence where both charges are served at the same time. If an offender is charged for committing more than one crime the offender can be giving a sentenced where he has to serve time for each crime one after the other (Siegel & Worrall, 2013, p. 210). Once the offender has been sentenced from there you will be able to determine if the sentence is indeterminate or determinate.

    Read More

  • Is Justice Profitable?

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    Last but not least, injustice does not provide the most good for the most number of people. Just acts spawn other just acts just like unjust acts spawn other unjust acts. If everyone behaved unjustly, mankind would return to a state of nature (everyone is for themselves) which would be very unprofitable for the unjust individual due to a decreased likelihood of survival. An action is clearly unprofitable for the unjust individual if it would eventually create a hostile environment for him. Hence, one should set an example for others by living a just life which would create a better environment for him as well as for others.

    Read More

  • Justification of Punishment!

    2840 Words  | 6 Pages

    ABSTRACT: Both utilitarians and the deontologists are of the opinion that punishment is justifiable, but according to the utilitarian moral thinkers, punishment can be justified solely by its consequences, while the deontologists believe that punishment is justifiable purely on retributive ground. D. D. Raphael is found to reconcile both views. According to him, a punishment is justified when it is both useful and deserved. Maclagan, on the other hand, denies it to be justifiable in the sense that it is not right to punish an offender. I claim that punishment is not justifiable but not in the sense in which it is claimed by Maclagan. The aim of this paper is to prove the absurdity of the enquiry as to whether punishment can be justified. Difference results from differing interpretations of the term 'justification.' In its traditional meaning, justification can hardly be distinguished from evaluation. In this sense, to justify an act is to say that it is good or right. I differ from the traditional use and insist that no act or conduct can be justified. Infliction of punishment is a human conduct and as such it is absurd to ask for its justification. I hold the view that to justify is to give reason, and it is only a statement or an assertion behind which we can put forth reason. Infliction of pain is an act behind which the agent may have purpose or intention but not reason. So, it is not punishment, but rather statements concerning punishment that we can justify.

    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

  • The Punishable Assignment

    409 Words  | 1 Pages

    Maybe this is something to think about. Someone has an assignment. S/he is told that it is an honor but some rules make the person alone and hurt. Lois Lowry's book, The Giver, the Chief Elder, old and honorable, selects Jonas, a member of the utopian community to be the 'The Receiver of Memory.' But she says and the rules states that Jonas's training will involve lots of pain, that he is allowed to lie, and cannot take any medications. Jonas's assignment of his is more like a punishment instead of an honor like the Chief Elder told him.

    Read More

  • The Three Classical Ethical Theories

    1435 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every day we are confronted with questions of right and wrong. These questions can appear to be very simple (Is it always wrong to lie?), as well as very complicated (Is it ever right to go to war?). Ethics is the study of those questions and suggests various ways we might solve them. Here we will look at three traditional theories that have a long history and that provide a great deal of guidance in struggling with moral problems; we will also see that each theory has its own difficulties. Ethics can offer a great deal of insight into the issues of right and wrong; however, we will also discover that ethics generally won’t provide a simple solution on which everyone can agree (Mosser, 2013).

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Punishment

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    Training police to enact broken-windows or zero-tolerance policies upon youths, who have, more than likely, only experienced areas of high-crime throughout their lives, is not the way to stop them from committing crime in their lifetime. These types of police tactics, when administered to juveniles, are more likely to skew the child’s view of themselves and their self-worth, serving to create, not only a distrust towards authority figures, but also a person who genuinely believes that they are destined to nothing more than a life of crime. Perhaps if officers were more lenient with inner-city youths, they would be more likely to see police as helpful and more likely to realize that the decisions that they make do have an effect on the outcome

    Read More

  • Punishment

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many explanations for what punishment characterises. For Emile Durkheim, punishment was mainly an expression of social solidarity and not a form of crime control. Here, the offender attacks the social moral order by committing a crime and therefore, has to be punished, to show that this moral order still "works". Durkheim's theory suggests that punishment must be visible to everyone, and so expresses the outrage of all members of society against the challenge to their collective values. The form of punishment changes between mechanic (torture, execution) and organic (prison) solidarity because the values of society change but the idea behind punishing, the essence, stays the same - keeping the moral order intact not decreasing crime. Foucault has a different view of the role or function of punishment. For Foucault, punishment signifies political control. His theory compares the age of torture with the age of prison, concluding that the shift from the former to the latter is done due to changes in society and new strategies needed for the dominance of it by the rulers. Punishment for Foucault is a show of power first brutal and direct (torture), then organised and rational (prison). Punishment does not get more lenient because of humanitarian reasons but because the power relations in society change.

    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 The Function of Punishment

Open Document