Punishment: Forms and Functions Essay

As for the specific deterrence, it aims to deter the offender so as not to return to the commission of the offense again, the punishment and pain and their material and moral harm will prevent the offender

The part that is consistent with my view on deterrence is that one of the goals of rehabilitation is to deter and prevent future crime. “Punitive confinement may rehabilitate some so that after release they commit fewer offenses than they might otherwise have committed. In addition, rehabilitative treatment tries to lead the convict to choose legitimate over criminal activities upon release” (Van Den Haag, 769). This deterrence gives offenders the ability to succeed within the confines of the law. I will accept this part of the rehabilitation theory because it reflects my views on the deterrence theory and acts as a discouragement for future crimes, providing happiness and order in society. There is however, an additional part of the rehabilitation theory I cannot entirely accept. Under rehabilitation, programs are put into place to aid in restoring the offender to a “new” life and way of living. The offender post punishment is better able to form a meaningful life. The offender’s attitude and perception of themselves and others is believed to have altered through these programs. Offenders receive education that provides knowledge and skills necessary to

Society has long since operated on a system of reward and punishment. That is, when good deeds are done or a person behaves in a desired way they SP are rewarded, or conversely punished when behaviour does not meet the societal norms. Those who defy these norms and commit crime are often punished by organized governmental justice systems through the use of penitentiaries, where prisoners carry out their sentences. The main goals of sentencing include deterrence, safety of the public, retribution, rehabilitation, punishment and respect for the law (Government of Canada, 2013). However, the type of justice system in place within a state or country greatly influences the aims and mandates of prisons and in turn targets

Obviously, compare with the former three approaches, the rehabilitation theory concerns more about offenders’ personal lives which support criminals’ reformation to adopt treatment and programmes for better integrate into society, and thus lower the opportunity for them to reoffend. Since the rehabilitation approach promotes the individualised sentences which the punishment tends to fit the offender rather than fit the offence, the severity of punishment is indeterminate based on the performance and condition of offenders. The proponents support that it is more humanise than a fixed penalty which is more favourable to serve offender and encouraging them to re-enter society. However, the opponents argue the indeterminate sentence of rehabilitation theory may not effective to help the reformation of criminal since it is difficult to know the offenders are really well reformed or not. Bank mentioned the opponents’ argument as the offenders would more likely to preoccupied with their likely release date, and pretend to be well behaved to obtain the early release (2011:

Shaming is a deliberate effort to attach a negative meaning to a behavior. Deterrence is a measure that prevents a person from doing something because of fear of the consequences. Shaming will help establish a norm for a small group of people, but for most people who feel the need to break norms of society shaming will not be very effective. Deterrence will be much more effective in preventing people from committing crimes. There are two types of deterrence: general deterrence and specific deterrence. General deterrence applies to the general population that helps ensure that they will not commit crimes in the future. It is the fear of experiencing consequences that have been applied to others who have committed the crime. This is the primary method of preventing crime in the world to create a fear of having negative sanctions brought onto a person if they fail to follow the norms set out by society. Specific deterrence on the other hand is the changing of the attitude of individuals who have been or are still being punished by the law, to deter them from committing crime again. Specific deterrence is effective, but still flawed as evident by the high recidivist rate. One of the most important sociological topics is the differential association theory. This theory was created by Edwin Sutherland and he states that criminal behavior that violates society’s norms is learned. A person learns to commit deviant behavior through his or her environment, primarily through communication. A person learns not only how to commit the crime, but also the mindset of how to commit the crime. The learning process that comes with crime is the same as any other learned idea, it is usually developed through small intimate groups of people that help shape one’s perception of the world. A person often will see a law as being unfavorable to their previous dispositions and feel a need to

Over the years, America has used punishment to deal with non-law abiding citizens. Punishment can be defined as the infliction of a consequence to an offense. In this essay I will talk about what is punishment, the different forms of legal punishment, and the effeteness and my opinion about them. One of the most talked about topics in criminal justice is how to deal with criminals? In today’s world we just punish the person and not try to find out the reason for the crime. In the criminal justice system we punish offenders in hopes of deterring them and society from ever recommitting the crime again. One of the most common ways we try to deter crime is by incarceration, asset forfeiture, fines, probation/parole, death penalty, etc…. Incarceration

"Prisons are closed institutions. They are established and funded by governments to hold people against their will", but why punish (Zyl Smit, 2010)? What is the purpose of prison? This fundamental question stirs up a significant amount of debate. The government, citizens, educators, and even prisoners are divided about the right answers. There is disagreement in the US about the purpose of the prison system. On the one hand, the regulations of the prison system may seek deterrence, incapacitation, or retribution to avoid appearing too soft on criminals (Zyl Smit, 2010; Rossum, 2003). On the other hand, the regulations of the prison system may seek to opportunities to resocialize prisoners or to effect changes in the character, attitudes, or behavior of the convicted offender (Zyl Smit, 2010; Harvard Law Review, 2010). Which approach is the most effective for a society that decides to punish?

Both punishment and rehabilitation are needed if the problem of crime is to be effectively addressed. However, it is not necessary that the prison provide both of these functions simultaneously. A more logical approach involves a two-stage sentence. The prison would provide the incarceration stage and punishment of criminals. After the punitive portion of the sentence, the offender would serve a post-prison sentence of intense supervision which would provide the offender with therapeutic and remedial programs. This separation of the punitive and rehabilitative obligations would allow each segment of a sentence to be more effective, would make shorter punitive sentences more palatable to the public, and, simultaneously, would maximize the use of available cell space and resources.

What is rehabilitation? In the book, Corrections Today by Larry Siegel and Clemens Nartollas, rehabilitation is defined as, changing an offender’s character, attitudes, or behavior patterns so as to diminish his or her criminal propensities (20). When you see the word ‘rehabilitation’ you automatically point out the word ‘rehab’ and rehab means the process of helping someone become healthy again mentally, physically, and emotionally (Merriam-Webster). Therefore, if a criminal is rehabilitated it is because the people of higher authority believes that the criminal deserves to go through a program to make their mind right again and they also deserve another chance. However, not all criminals are granted that option.

Imprisonment records a conviction and detains the offender within jail for an assigned amount of time. The offender completely is removed of any freedom or liberty and placed under high security and regulation. However, statistics of the rise in imprisonment have risen arguments about its ineffectiveness stating offenders have not been rehabilitated or recovered after their imprisonment. To an extent, imprisonment is unsuccessful in preventing reoffending or assisting the offender’s progress to recovery and adaptation into society. Elements of sentencing purposes, prison circumstances and culture, and whether the abolishment of imprisonment would be beneficial underlines imprisonment still plays a crucial role in the criminal justice system (Humphreys, 2006, pp.119-120).

Another major goal of punishment is incapacitation. Incapacitation deprives an offender from the ability to commit crimes by detaining them in prison. Both deterrence and incapacitation focuses on the potential of a crime occurring in the future. But with incapacitation, the offender is kept in prison and won’t be given another chance in society until they have proven that they will no longer commit crimes (Cole, Smith and DeJong 278). Being punished by incapacitation is dependent upon the nature of the crimes committed in the past and how extensive the offender’s criminal record is (Cole, Smith and DeJong 278). There are some difficulties with this form of punishment because there is

Anytime there has been a crime, there has been a need for punishment for that crime. As a society, many of us feel that punishment should be rendered for crimes committed, but the type of punishment is always up for debate. Our concept of criminal law and its norms include honesty and responsibility for one’s actions and insists on moral culpability, in the form of mens rea and voluntariness (David, 2012). “Offenders who publicly accept responsibility for their crimes are more likely to internalize that responsibility than those who persist in denying guilt” (David, 2012, p. 64). Behind this concept is that of deterrence against future criminal actions.

Incarceration may be deemed justified as a means of preventing future crimes by incapacitating those who would otherwise be committing crimes within a free society (National Research Council, 2014). Moreover, incarceration can be used to otherwise deter or rehabilitate offenders who are punished from committing future crimes (National Research Council, 2014). While incarcerated, prisons can support an offender’s need to rehabilitation so that following the offender’s release, he/she is more likely to live in a law-abiding way and reintegrate successfully (National Research Council, 2014). Overall, prisons effectiveness can be measured by an outcome that includes lower rates of recidivism and higher rates an offender’s positive standing within the community and his/her overall health and well-being (National Research Council, 2014).

Criminal punishments have been a fragment of society for centuries, either to discipline individuals or overpower political opposition. Different eras over time established numerous forms of punishments for crimes. There is no morality or exceptional guarantee that punishment is a substantial process of humane penalty besides political officials that believe that it is feasible. In my opinion, punishment is not a proper method of crime control, however, some sanctions should be attainable in current day living. Courtroom officials portray punishments as desirable methods of crime control to distort community citizens’ perception, so they may trust that crimes are decreasing. Criminal punishments are solely based on rehabilitation, criminal analysis, and deterrence. Numerous theories of punishment have become inhumane because sometimes individuals have been incarcerated for years for crimes that weren’t even harsh.

Punishment is a form of social control which his intended to act as a deterrent for people who perform unlawful actions. The effectiveness of punishment depends upon the attitude of people towards punishment. Simply it means whether people are actually afraid of a certain punishment or not. For example the punishment of a murder is death sentence. But the concern is whether this punishment is sufficient to act as a deterrent against murders. The fear of punishment is what is known as punitive attitude. If people have fear of punishment, there is high probability that they will not kill a person. On the other hand, if the punishment is not very harsh for example, a murderer is only imprisoned for two years, then the fear of punishment is likely to be low and the crime arte will be higher in the society.