Punishment: A Majority Social Norm

In the United States there are four main goals when it comes to punishment which are retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation (DeJong, 2016, p. 288). The main goals for these punishments are to maintain order over society and to prevent recidivism (DeJong, 2016, p. 288). This ties into the Ecology perspective. By maintaining order over society and preventing recidivism, it ties into all of the issues regarding the Ecology perspective which requires for each issue to address the individual, family, community and society. Maintaining order over society and preventing recidivism strives toward making a safer environment for the individual, family, community and society. There is no universal agreement for making the severity of punishment just or fair (DeJong, 2016, p. 288). When it comes to retribution the person who is getting punished deserves the punishment (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). Retribution refers to when an individual commits a certain crime then that person must receive a punishment proportionate to that crime or suffering that they may have caused towards the victim (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). Regarding deterrence there are two types, general deterrence and specific deterrence (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). General deterrence focuses on the society in general and wants to scare everyone away from committing crimes (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). Specific deterrence focuses on criminals that have already been convicted and wants to prevent them from

Incarceration is thought of as a positive form of punishment, and negative form of punishment. The opinion varies with the type of person, and their experience from jail if they have gone. Most inmates while in prison will tell you it is a horrible place that should be gone. That would allow criminals to be free and that would let them cause harm to others or other illegal activities. Incarceration was not designed to be a paradise, it is a detention center for the bad, and meant for them to be punished. Without jails the world would be filled with even more evil, and would leave people in more danger than they already are.

In his book “Punishment and Inequality in America” Western discusses the underlying racial disparities that have lead to a mass incarceration in the United States. He states that incarceration rates have increased by a substantial amount. The race and class disparities viewed in impromesment are very large and class disparities have grown by a dramatic amount. In his book he argues that an increase in mass incarceration occured due to a significant increase in crime. The increase in mass incarceration can also be correlated with urban street crime that proliferated as joblessness in inner-city communities increased (Western, 2006). He also states that an increase in incarceration rates may be due to the changes in politics and policy which have intensified criminal punishment even though criminal offending did not increase. Although these are substantial reasons as to why incarceration has increased significantly in the US there are many underlying issues. The incarceration rates amongst young black men have increased the most in the United states, black men are more likely to go to prison than white and Hispanic men (Western, 2006). This may be largely due to factors such as unemployment, family instability, and neighborhood disorder which combine to produce especially high rates of violence among young black men in the United States (Western, 2006). A rise in incarceration rates may also be largely due to to increased drug arrests which represent the racial disparity.

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.

Punishment refers to the deliberate or intentional infliction of pain and suffering on an individual for breaching a particular law or code of conduct established in a given society. The idea of punishment has been in existence for a long stretch of time in history with philosophers weighing upon the necessity or otherwise of punishment. Inasmuch as a considerable number of philosophers agree that

Look into a classroom and one would see that collective punishment has long been used to elicit good behavior from students, but it is time for a closer look. Using tactics of peer pressure to try to enforce rules on surrounding students does not tend to work. Teachers who use collective punishment usually find more resentment from their students rather than the good behavior they are looking for, which begs the question, why do we still think of collective punishment as an effective way to make people conform? Using collective punishment goes against equality between students, and the equity of the classroom. Schools should not enforce collective punishment as a technique to correct behavior, since it can be harmful to innocent students, is ineffective at correcting behavior long-term, and can help instruct students to manipulate others with peer pressure.

Choice theory says that before a person commits a crime they weigh the consequences and benefits of their actions before committing the action, however, what the person does not get to consider is the unforeseeable consequences of their actions behinds those criminal acts, that is the invisible punishments. When defendants go before a judge and plead guilty, the judge engages them in a colloquy, this is a conversation between the judge and defendant making sure the defendant was not coerced into pleading guilty, that they were not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and that they are pleading guilty because they are guilty. What is not openly discussed is all the other privileges they would be giving up by pleading guilty.

Lastly, a more punitive justice system would cause overcrowding within our justice system, making a more detrimental environment for the offenders to live in. The purpose of prisons should be to rehabilitate offenders and prepare them to reenter society. Rather, what prions are doing is locking inmates away in atrocious environments, making them live with less resources and less space to function. This is not a suitable environment for any human being. Cook & Roesh (2012) contend that, “double-bunking inmates increased because of overcrowding, and there are more segregation-like units which have limited offenders’ access to rehabilitation programs” (p. 220). By limiting offenders rehabilitation programs, prisons are not offering their inmates a chance at improving themselves, when the inmates are released, there is still a chance of recidivism. Furthermore, overcrowding showed signs of poor mental and physical health (Cook & Roesh, 2012, p. 220). If a more punitive justice system were to come into place, mass incarceration would develop putting prisons at a higher risk of overcrowding. Through overcrowding there are health issues pertaining to the inmates and leaves them with a higher risk of recidivism when leaving prison. The job of prisons should be to turn offenders into productive members of society, not subject them to inhumane living conditions. Although offenders are incarcerated as a punishment to their crimes, it does not show progressive results when the

Throughout time, the use of punishment has changed drastically. Not only has the actual infliction of punishment changed, the reasoning behind this punishment has also changed. There have been numerous scholars, educators, and researchers that have presented various theories on the reasoning behind societal punishment. Some of these theories are closely similar, however some are drastically different. It is important to note that these theorists have broad perceptions that can be rooted back to specific time periods throughout history. Societal punishment is defined as, “punishment being a complex social institution, shaped by the ensemble of social and historical forces and having a range of effects that reach well beyond the population of offenders” (Garland, 1991).

Garland, D. (2015). Sociological perspective of punishment. [online] http://www.umass.edu/legal/Benavides/Fall2005/397G/Readings%20Legal%20397%20G/8%20David%20Garland.pdf. Available at: http://www.umass.edu/legal/Benavides/Fall2005/397G/Readings%20Legal%20397%20G/8%20David%20Garland.pdf [Accessed 20 Apr. 2015].

The effect of sentencing rules has been good. By controlling the various decisions about the

Justification of punishment is needed because there needs to be sufficient reasoning behind the treatment that wrongdoers receive. The moral education theory provides the best reasoning for punishment by taking into account that people are rational beings with the ability to make choices, and providing moral education on prohibited actions or behaviors. One might object to these arguments and say that due to the complexity of figuring out exactly what actions are considered immoral, the moral education theory is inadequate. A good example of this would be current laws in certain states prohibiting the use of marijuana. Undoubtedly, marijuana use is not deemed to be immoral by the majority, for there would not be any states in which it is legalized. Many people would

A well known saying which explains this theory is, ‘An eye for an eye’. This quote, ‘An eye for an eye’, is a subjective viewpoint because it was once said by the Indian, Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘An eye of an eye will only make the whole world blind. This is a very important quote because it states that the people who commit crimes should not receive punishments fitting to the crime they commit. I personally think that this quote should be taken in to account and

The defendant clearly has no malicious intentions. They are not in a position to inflict harm on other members of the society considering their demeanor and general conduct. However, they have broken the law and as such, their action cannot go unpunished. In the quest to punish the defendant effectively, two aspects should be put into consideration. One is the fact that the punishment needs to act as a warning to any other parties who may have similar behavior, and the other is the fact that it should allow the state to still benefit from the national building efforts of the individual in question. In that regard, the best form of punishment is community based supervision of punishment. This would entail elements such as having the individual clearing bushes for a

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