- Published: October 1, 2022
- Updated: October 1, 2022
- University / College: American University
- Level: Masters
- Language: English
- Downloads: 48
Traditional justifications for punishing criminals Retribution Retribution is a form of penalty used traditionally to penalize a wrongdoer and compensate the victim. It is possible to insinuate that retributive justice is necessary for restoring the inexistent moral balance in society. A moral society requires retributive justice to prevent the violation of divine and natural laws.
Deterrence
Deterrence involves using punishment as a way of preventing people from committing a crime. The argument justifying the use of this form of punishment is that would-be-criminals can calculate the cost-benefit ratio in determining possible pains before engaging in criminal activities (Stohr, & Anthony 10). However, deterrence holds that the level of punishment depends on the gravity of the crime. Given the ability to calculate the possible gains and pain, the potential of the preventive effect expected from this form of punishment might not be applicable when the criminal looks forwards to achieving more gain than pain.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation involves the reintegration of a convicted person back to society using treatment programs essential for stopping offenders from continuing with their criminal behavior. The assumption is that criminal behavior emanates from factors such as an individual’s psychological development, social surrounding and his or her biological makeup. For this reason, the justification behind it is that it is vital for improving compliance since the programs used empower the criminal to learn suitable behavioral skills.
Incapacitation
Incapacitation involves making it legally impossible for criminals to victimize people by locking them up in prison. Since the criminals are not in a position to harm those outside the prison walls, it is a good strategy for defending possible victims. In this case, the criminal incapacitation forcefully prevents a criminal from exercising criminal tendencies, which is vital for ensuring the safety to innocent individuals.
Works cited
Stohr, Mary K, and Anthony Walsh. Corrections: The Essentials. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE, 2012. Print.
