Ron Fridell states, "The basic principles of deterrence are that punishments are necessary to deter crime and encourage law abiding behavior. Punishment must also fit the crime with more serious crimes requiring more serious punishments. (61) I agree with the author because capital punishment serves as a device to discourage certain forms of behavior by making the consequences of these actions unpleasant. Capital punishment is acceptable under those terms and it is necessity to the betterment of society. Micheal Kronwetter said, "No other punishment deters men so effectively as the punishment of death."(19) As an example, murder peaked in 1990 with 2,200 deaths, when New York did not have the death penalty. In 1997, when capital punishment was reinstated the murders for the year totaled 767. Deterrence obviously worked in relation to these crimes. There seems to be a direct relationship between deterrence and the effects of capital…
The sentencing system should not be altered, for decreasing the focus and increasing the frequency of sentencing would do more harm than good. An emphasis on merely punishment and retribution in criminal sentencing would prevent the right of an offender to a fair trial. Furthermore, set and compulsory sentencing ignores personal circumstances, which in some cases could make all the difference. With these aggravating factors, hardening the system of law will not bring any advantages to society.…
As previously mentioned, if the punishment is not harsh enough the result is repeated offense. If a criminal relishes in committing a crime and the court system does not properly punish them for it, then they actually have no reason not to repeat the crime over again. The National Institute of Justice, part of the U.S department of Justice, studied how likely criminals are to relapse after being released, claiming that “Within five years of release, about three-quarters (76.6 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested” (Durose, Cooper, and Howard). This statistic proves that there is a significant chance that a criminal will indeed carry out the same action as before. The most significant way that an offender is punished is through what…
The article, “Identifying deterrable offenders: implications for research on deterrence,” proposed a unique framework from which to understand how deterrence operates. The article argued that most research has not adequately explored the proposition that deterrence operates for only a subgroup of the general population. In light of this, Pogarsky focused on more efficiently testing the effects of the certainty and severity of sanctions by dividing a sample into three subgroups and then analyzing their responses to a hypothetical situation. By doing this, Pogarsky aimed to specifically test a subgroup of the population, and how sanctions affect that group. The findings of his research contrasted many previous theories, however, numerous methodological problems can be found in his research. Consequently, these problems threaten the validity of his conclusion about the certainty and severity of sanctions on the deterrable subgroup of the general population.…
Regrettably, the world we live in is one of corruption and an unsatisfactory criminal justice system. Whether because of condition, upbringing, imperfect decisions, substance abuse, or complete bad timing and chance, all of us discover ourselves in circumstances we 'd rather not be in all through our lives; some of us observe ourselves in circumstances rather worse than that of most individuals. One of those situations is observed in the event of receiving an imprisonment sentence. On top of the sentence itself, the stigmatism of having a confinement record can make life very challenging - but, of course, in detention centers, one can 't earn a considerable wage at all.…
The two sharply contrasted settings in Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky are symbolic of how turbulent Raskolinikov’s mind becomes after he murders Alyona Ivanov. In the bustling and disgusting Saint Petersburg, Raskolinikov has to suddenly battle the guilt that comes with Alyona’s demise yet once Raskolinikov confesses to his crime and serves his sentence in the lonely and removed Siberia; his mind relaxes. Similar to The Stranger, most of Crime and Punishment takes place during the summer, when the hot sun muddles Raskolinikov’s mind as it did to Meursaults’s. While Meursault uses the sun as an excuse to why he committed murder, Raskolinikov tried to justify his actions to Sonya; but ultimately Raskolinikov definitely comprehended his own guilt and spent most of the novel attempting to ease his shame.…
The four fundamental philosophies surrounding the purpose of sentencing are retribution, deterrence, Incapacitation, and Rehabilitation. Retribution is the belief that those who commit criminal acts should be punished according to the seriousness of the crime and that no other circumstances are considered. It relies on the principle of just deserts, which holds that the severity of the punishment must be in proportion of the severity of the crime. Deterrence is the thought that if the punishment given is severe enough that it will stop the potential criminal from committing the crime or to be a repeat offender, so rather than seeking only to punish the offender this strategy is to try to sentence to prevent future crimes along with incapacitation and rehabilitation. Incapacitation is the third philosophy that is a belief that if the criminal is detained for a crime, thereby being separated from the community reduces the criminal activity and once released will not be as likely to be a repeat offender. Rehabilitation is the fourth and final philosophy that surrounds the purpose of sentencing, some believe that society is best served when those who break the law are not simply punished but are provided with resources needed to eliminate the need or want to engage in criminal behavior activity. There are three steps to help determining sentencing. When public opinions move toward more severe strategies of retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation, legislatures have responded by asserting their power of over determining sentencing guidelines. The Legislature passes sentencing Laws; this specifies the terms of indeterminate sentencing. An Indeterminate term of incarceration is in which a judge determines the minimum and maximum terms of imprisonment. Only a jury can hand down the decision of the death penalty. When the minimum term is reached the prisoner becomes eligible to be paroled. Then there is determinate sentencing, this is a period of incarceration that is…
In a contemporary society where crime takes place we expect the state authority to dispense justice in the form of punishment to maintain social solidarity. There are many forms of punishment that can be given to an offender, each with their own functions for the offender and society itself.…
To what extent do the punishment (or lack thereof) of crimes in America reflect America’s ethical/moral values?…
Punishment is our current most exercised consequence for bringing justice to those victims of criminals by incarcerating offenders in a jail or prison, as well as other forms such as the community service, probation, and even the death penalty. While jail and/or prison life is necessary to protect the public by confining criminals away from public harm, I believe that “only” punishing dangerous criminals is simply not enough.…
All of the trauma of the streets influence crime, sending members of that community to be incarcerated where more trauma is experienced to be released once again to the streets. In other words, the effects of incarceration list a spectrum of social problems for the incarcerated, " troubles with money, increased general anxiety, domestic crisis, and added stress during care taking of children lead to negative actions even for people who are not incarcerated. Add having a member of the family incarcerated will exacerbate problems that already exist in a household" (Turanovic P.26) Also, incarceration found within the house may not be the only important factor of these results. The results of the survey showed that it was the environment that…
The reason why I am against mandatory sentencing is because studies show that the greatest deterrent effects come from an increased fear of being caught and the length of sentence is insignificant to criminals who believe they can act with impunity. We should focus instead upon increasing the size and effectiveness of the police force as well as other deterrent measures such as closed circuit television cameras, better street lightning, and alarm systems.…
Mandatory Sentencing “A mandatory sentence is a court decision setting where judicial discretion is limited by law. Typically, people convicted of certain crimes must be punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison.” – Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia The difference between normal and mandatory sentencing is the process that this happens in as normal sentencing sets a range of penalties, which allows the judge and the magistrates to see out the sentence according to the circumstances of the offence and the offender. So far Western Australia, NSW and Queensland have Mandatory sentencing but the northern territory has abolished mandatory sentencing.…
The need for harsher sentencing in law reform may appease the needed features of punishment, but stricter penalties have not been proven to show reduced crime rates and then follows in seeking to promote social values for harsher sentancing undermining us our social value for fairness and the idea of justice to the individual…
Nowadays, the number of crime is increasing and posing a threat to life and property of innocent people, so that many people believe to place the prisoner in prison for longer periods is the best way. In our opinion, long prison sentences can help to reduce crime because it can make a deterrent for criminals, criminals can re-educated though some educated course in prison; and locked up the criminals can protect the safety of innocent people.…