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General Deterrence Research Paper

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Punishment given to offenders acts as an example for society and deters others from committing the same crime. Punishment serves as proof and as a model to the rest of society that criminal behavior will have consequences and can be seen as an educational tool. When using punishment as a threat, warning or intimidation tactic for the prevention of evil, it is formally referred to as general deterrence. “General deterrence stems from the perceived threat or fear of the inherent elements of punishment itself, not through some indirect process. Examples of general deterrence from fear of direct sanctions are refraining from speeding for fear of a fine or in my argument, refraining from a felony for fear of incarceration” (Williams & Hawkins, 547). By presenting …show more content…

Most times the punishment received was not worth the crime committed. This feeling is similar to how children feel after their mother warns them not to eat the entire box of chocolates or they will get a stomach ache. Once the act has been committed the “punishment” of feeling queasy was not worth eating all the chocolate. Consequences for crimes committed can act as compelling and powerful deterrence of future crimes by others. Referencing my example above, if a boy ate a box of chocolates and his sister heard her mother provide a warning alerting her brother of the consequences that this action would bestow on him and she then saw the punishment in the form of the upset stomach he received for committing the act anyway, she would not want that to happen to herself. The boy’s sister would then be deterred from committing the same act because of her brother’s consequence. Here, “punishment” served as a deterrent for the other family

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