Punishment And Its Effects On Society

     The deterrence and rehabilitation of prisons is clearly a purpose that is not being fulfilled. The actions of Earl Shriner and Reginald Muldrew are examples that show this. Claiming prisons as being effective, one might say that these are just isolated cases. In 1993, fifty-three percent of prisoners released were reconvicted within two years (Reducing).

Prison has therefore been justified since the Gladstone Report (Departmental Committee on Prisons,1895), which set the tone for penal policy, stating that prison would have a deterrent function; there would also be a rehabilitative ideal about prison. The objectives of prison, as described by Jewkes et al

There are three main purposes of the prisons, these are punishing the offenders, protection of the population from the offenders and rehabilitating the offenders. Punishment is seen as the most obvious intention of the correctional system for the people who have been found guilty of crimes. Theoretically speaking, this is supposed to act as a way of deterring one from repeating a particular criminal activity and it is also intended to serve as an example to other people as to why they should avoid any form of criminal activity. Incarceration is an example of punishment in the correctional systems, on the other hand death penalty and other lesser penalties like probation are meant to be punitive.

Our criminal justice system benefit’s our country by allowing residents to know that crime is taken seriously. Prisons work to discourage people from committing crimes, or at least to not get caught. It is accurate to seek punishment to prevent people from doing bad things. It is necessary that everyone can feel safe. Humans need consequences for their actions. In the interest of all people, this has been the original intention of our justice system. Although, as a result of this approach, it is understood that in the United States of America, we have the highest percentage of incarceration in the world. The fact is, there is no proof that this is helping society by ending or preventing crime. The protection society needs is dependent upon rehabilitation.

In a society of criminals, those that choose to be and those that are in the wrong place at the wrong time. The criminal justice system has defined four theories of punishment and you may ask what are the four theories of punishment? The first theory of punishment is Retribution which is a theory that criminals should pay for their crime. Society agrees that this punishment is the most reliable because it holds criminals accountable for their crime in relation to the degree of the crime they have committed. In recent years before the lawyers and court rulings, the retributive punishment would have killed those who committed murder or make the offenders suffer for what they have done wrong. If a criminal made a victim suffer, they criminal should suffer as well. Punishment of the criminal is defined in the dictionary as “punishment is made an offender suffer for what they have done” that is a great example of retribution

The processes by which justice is applied are determined largely by proposed punishment philosophies. These express various concerns and arguments regarding appropriate sentencing and treatment. The philosophy of rehabilitation dominates the proceedings of juvenile courts, and is heavily scrutinized at an adult level, or when the criminal behavior of juveniles continues to accelerate, but when successful is most beneficial for society. The appeals process advances the fair practice of law, helps ensure the rights of due process, and continues to clarify and define justice and the law.

Few decisions in the criminal justice system apply as much influence over the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of criminal offenders as the final sentencing decision. Judges have an extensive range of sentencing options. These options range from fines, restitution, and probation to incarceration in jail or prison. For much of the 20th century, criminal sentencing practices remained largely unchanged in the United States. Over the past few decades, we have witnessed a practical revolution in criminal punishment processes. A number of different sentencing reforms have been recently expanded, resulting in a mix of different legal approaches to sentencing in the United States today. I will begin with a brief overview of sentencing

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).

I believe we punish different viewpoints because it may not be considered a majority social norm. By this I mean that a large group of people creates a social norm for the situation based on common thoughts/ perspectives. I feel that once an individual or group agrees a common idea, then nothing will change their opinion. This mentality will then lead to punishment of the individual who has the opposite viewpoint, because some people may not like to admit they are wrong.

Initially, prisons were designed as penitent- punitive in nature. This approach aims at issuing punishment to offenders or seeks retribution from those who are involved in serious crime. It involved incarceration and flogging offenders as a way of suppressing unwanted behavior (Morris and Tonry 79). This is meant to reform minds of the offender through inflicting punishment and scare potential criminals from committing crime. However, this approach may fail to achieve its objective if it is implemented without combing with other programs to reform the minds of the

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].

Why do Marxists argue that there is no such thing as punishment as such? Critically evaluate these arguments.

Punishment is defined as “the infliction or imposition of a penalty as retribution for an offense” (“Punishment”). Some prominent theories of punishment include retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and the moral education theory. Although retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation are all crucial components of punishment justification, independently the theories have weaknesses that avert the moral rationalization of punishment. I believe that Jean Hampton’s moral education theory is the best justification for punishment because it yields the most sympathetic and prudent reasons for punishment, while simultaneously showing that punishment cannot be justified by solely

It has to be imposed and administered by someone of authority from a legal system against the particular crime committed.

In Chapter 10 “Corrections”, it went over the history, different kinds of punishments, how it affected the inmates, and how the corrections system is now and how different it has changed since the first penitentiary. Being in prison has always been an act of punishment and gives time to the inmate to reflect their actions. Prison isn’t a place to relax and enjoy oneself, an inmate needs to do work or will suffer the consequences. We will look more into the different kinds of systems and how we got to where our system is at today.