Three Theories Of Punishment Essay

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THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT
Johan Finnish rightly said that the delinquent behavior of a person needs to be thought not with melody but with iron rod . All the people should act in social interest and in accordance with social acceptance. All wrongful act of any individual need to be punished. There are different theories of punishment but what distinguishes all these theories is their focus and goal. On the basis of this we can divide theories of punishment into three type:
1. Utilitarian- These theories are forward looking and concerned mainly with the consequence of punishment. It believes that punishment is not an end in itself but a means to achieve something. Theorist like Jeremy Bentham is connected with this theory.
2. Non Utilitarian- It is a backward looking theory and mostly interested in the mental state, …show more content…

Unlike preventive theory which attacks on the physical mobility of a person, deterrence attacks on the will and mental element of a person who wish to commit a crime. Deterrence works in two ways firstly specific and second is general. Specific deterrence is on one which person on whom punishment is inflicted. Punishment should be one which deters the evildoer from committing the same crime in future.
General deterrence is one in which the punishment on the criminal creates example for the society and create deterrence for not committing the same crime otherwise they will suffer from the same punishment.
Sanction as pain some time produces ironical results. It is thought that punishment would deter offenders, in reality it hardens the criminals because once criminals accustomed with punishment, deterrence loses its strength on such criminals. Deterrence does not work for the hardcore criminals or for all those who commits crime without the fear of punishment. It has failed to reduce crimes e.g. -

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