Sentencing
Sentencing
Kelley Yiannakis
CJ 200
September 8, 2013
Carl Dewyer
Sentencing
The criminal justice system has many important aspects within, the most important one is sentencing. Sentencing is the imposition of a penalty on a person convicted of a crime. (Schmalleger, 2011) This decision is determined in judicial proceedings by judges and in some cases juries may be involved. In the following paragraphs the philosophical reasons and punishments for sentencing of criminals will be explained.
There are four main philosophical reasons that surround the purposes of sentencing a criminal, which are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. First is retribution which is based on a perceived need for vengeance, used in the earliest societies. Whereas they believed in punishments to fit the crimes, which was stated in the bible. In the “Old Testament dictum of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” –often cited as an ancient justification for retribution- which was believed to be intended to reduce severe punishment for minor crimes.” Second of criminal sentencing is incapacitation which protects members of society who may be in danger of harm by the offender. Incapacitation is not a punishment but a restraint to separate the offenders from endangering the community. Next is deterrence which is the fear of punishment to deter people from committing a crime. There are two different deterrence’s which is special deterrence and general deterrence. Special deterrence seeks to reduce repeat offenses by the convicted offenders and general deterrence strives to influence the future behavior of people who have not yet been arrested and who may be tempted to turn to crime. (Schmalleger, 2011) The fourth and last philosophical reason is rehabilitation, which is an attempt to reform a criminal and their behavior. Rehabilitation works through education and psychological treatment to reduce any future criminality.
There are different forms of
Kelley Yiannakis
CJ 200
September 8, 2013
Carl Dewyer
Sentencing
The criminal justice system has many important aspects within, the most important one is sentencing. Sentencing is the imposition of a penalty on a person convicted of a crime. (Schmalleger, 2011) This decision is determined in judicial proceedings by judges and in some cases juries may be involved. In the following paragraphs the philosophical reasons and punishments for sentencing of criminals will be explained.
There are four main philosophical reasons that surround the purposes of sentencing a criminal, which are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. First is retribution which is based on a perceived need for vengeance, used in the earliest societies. Whereas they believed in punishments to fit the crimes, which was stated in the bible. In the “Old Testament dictum of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” –often cited as an ancient justification for retribution- which was believed to be intended to reduce severe punishment for minor crimes.” Second of criminal sentencing is incapacitation which protects members of society who may be in danger of harm by the offender. Incapacitation is not a punishment but a restraint to separate the offenders from endangering the community. Next is deterrence which is the fear of punishment to deter people from committing a crime. There are two different deterrence’s which is special deterrence and general deterrence. Special deterrence seeks to reduce repeat offenses by the convicted offenders and general deterrence strives to influence the future behavior of people who have not yet been arrested and who may be tempted to turn to crime. (Schmalleger, 2011) The fourth and last philosophical reason is rehabilitation, which is an attempt to reform a criminal and their behavior. Rehabilitation works through education and psychological treatment to reduce any future criminality.
There are different forms of