Deterrence: An Example Of Justification For Punishment

hment Research Paper July 26, 2009 The first example of justification for punishment that I will be discussing will be deterrence. What deterrence means that it is the attempt to discourage criminality through the use of punishment. (Macionis, 2006) one example of deterrence is that you know the outcome of the punishment before you decide to break any sort of law. It is believe that this concept was based on the thought that citizens will not break the law if they think that the pain of the punishment will outweigh the pleasure of the crime. (Macionis, 2006) one example that I thought of for deterrence was that if you have any choice to leave early form where you are to reach your final destination on time without breaking any sort of laws on your way there, like speeding for instance. But if you are late, then you are then tempted to speed to get to you final destination which knowingly the consequences of speeding beforehand. Some
might think that a speeding ticket is well worth the risk next to being maybe late for their job, party or planned get together. One crime that may be worth the risk for one person is not worth the risk for another especially if murder is involved. Which means the punishment is a lot harsher than just one lousy speeding ticket. The second form of justification of punishment that I will be talking about is retribution. Retribution is defined as the moral vengeance to satisfy a society to make the offender suffer as much as the suffering caused. (Macionis, 2006) some people would consider the death penalty a part of retribution. What I found was that many relatives of murder victims have discovered real retribution can never be achieved. (Economist, 1999) one example is that some people feel that the only way to fully repay hideous acts such as murder is to torture them, or have them endure tortures ways until death. Some believe that retribution is recognition that tit-for-tat vengeance is beyond the reach of human justice. (Economist, 1999) It is said that retribution is the oldest of the four ways. Retribution id said to help satisfy the need of the people that does need some sort of closure. Punishment should equal severity of the crime that the deviant offender committed himself. Some think that retribution is all about an eye for an eye justice. Those are the people that take justice into their own hands by committing the deviant act themselves. The third form of justification for punishment that I will be discussing is societal protection.
Societal protection means rendering an offender incapable of further offenses temporarily through imprisonment or permanently by execution. (Macionis, 2006) Societal protection is totally different from rehabilitation where they hope to change offenders urges too commit ether crimes again. Societal protection wants to keep them locked away or have them put to death. The offender’s surroundings would consist of an average of an 8 x 8 cell or an execution chamber which in fact have housed many other offenders before him or her. With this method it is used to be helpful to all offenders that there is a possible chance of reform or possible second chance of life outside prison. There are currently 2 million people that have been behind bars in the U.S. it has been seen that crime rate has gone done over several years, but great increase of the number of people that are locked up. It is said to be three rimes higher since the
1980’s. The final form of the justification for punishment is rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is a program for reforming the offender to prevent later offenses. (Macionis, 2006) the rehabilitation idea came from the social sciences many centuries ago. This has been proven to be a very effective method. It proves that if you control the offender’s environment, they are able to steer the offender in the right direction, and then they can learn to obey the rules. Reformatories or houses of correction provided a controlled setting where people could learn proper behavior. (Macionis, 2006) one example that I can give you of how rehab is used in today’s society, is when a drug addict is convicted of a crime then they are sent to a half way house for rehab. After rehab these people have the choice to stay on the right path or they can go back to doing what they were doing before rehab. Some believe that rehabilitation is a forgiving punishment of all of the four justifications that is because that it can promise the people that they could have a second chance at a successful life. Retribution is said that it demands punishment fit the crime, but rehab fir the treatment to each person that has committed the crime. In conclusion, all four of the justifications on which include retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence, and societal protection are the proper way to deal with all the offenders that have committed a crime. Since all of the justifications of punishment are one great way to protect everyone by making sure that the proper punishment is to be carried out for the crime that is committed. We have seen the statistics that proves that the crime rate has dropped over the past several years, and it is the justice system that has a great profound effect on the crime that is committed. I do hope that you have enjoyed my writings and you have received new knowledge from my writings.