Theories of punishment kinds of punishment under criminal law synopsis1 introduction. For safe, orderly, peaceful and prosperous society to exist and flourish the following tools of theory are found to be good guides. Modern theory of punishment modern theory of punishment is a combination of all the theories discussed above. Retributive theory works under the penal laws and expiation theory is akin to the law of torts. It is needless to mention that satisfactory justification and practical application of theories of punishment is one of the most important and complex problems in ethics. Theology punishment or reward distributed in a future life based on performance in this one. Rehabilitation theory in criminal justice criminal.
What is the difference between retributive theory and. The view of the natural law theory can be summarised by the maxim lex iniusta non est lex which means an unjust law is not a true law. In addition, we will give voice to some major objections to the utilitarian theory. In other words, the monetary loss of the sufferer is compensated and the criminal has to compensate for the loss. Theories of punishment can be divided into two general philosophies. Punishment theories of punishment utilitarian, society, theory. Punishment expresses societys condemnation of the crime theory explains the need for general requirement of liability known as culpability mens rea by presupposing free will.
Preventive theory aims to prevent the crime, rather than avenging it. In his attempt to distinguish repressive from restitutive reactions, durkheim defined punishment as an essentially. Retributive theory is based on rights, desert and justice. The theory of criminal justice has deep connections to other areas of philosophy, such as political philosophy and ethics, as well as to criminal justice in practice. Expiatory theory of punishment is the one where if the offender realises its mistake, then the offender is forgiven of the crime. The founder of this theory, jeremy bentham, based his theory of determine on the principle of hedonism which said that a man would be deterred from committing a crime if the punishment applied was swift, certain and severe.
Retributive theory of punishment vengeance theory it is a concept of primitive society which consists of injury inflicted by way of retaliation by victim of crime on actor of crime, which requires the existence of victim as well as a wrong doer. The history of punishment by lewis lyons, published by amber books, 2003. Thus, according to this theory, the objective of punishment needs to be reformation by the offender. Submitted to submitted by deterrent theory i do not punish you for stealing the ship, but so that the ship may not be stolen the central cynosure of the theory. The chief end of the law of crime is to make the evildoer an example and warning to all those who are like minded.
So, this is not a punishment virtually but rather a rehabilitative process. The utilitarian theory of punishment seeks to punish offenders to discourage, or deter, future wrongdoing. In other words, punishment to an convict will deter others from doing similar acts. According to this theory punishment is necessary for the purification of the offender. Utilitarian justifications for punishment our first theoretical foray into punishment is the utilitarian perspective. In older times, injured person takes revenge by causing injury to other. Western ethics theories of punishment for competitive. Theory of criminal justice wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the theory of criminal justice is the branch of philosophy of law that deals with criminal justice and in particular punishment. However, due significantly to a proper focus on a logically coherent theory of harm, and in particular on post merger incentives, the merger was passed. Why is the expiatory theory of punishment obsolete now. Under the utilitarian philosophy, laws should be used. The theory also seems to ignore that if vengeance is the spirit of punishment, violence will be a way of prison life. Providing a peaceful society and life is the duty of the state. This theory is more defective than even the retributive theory.
Lack of punishment causes the law to lose its force and eventually creates a society unable to maintain law and order and a government unable to protect its people. Perspectives on the effects of corporal punishment. Expiatory punishment theory plays a large part of the paroling process, and operates under the idea that if a criminal repents, or expiates, then he or she must be forgiven. Punishments are imposed on the wrong doers with the object to deter them to repeat the same wrong doing and reform them into law abiding citizens. The reformative theory was born out of the positive theory that the focal point of crime is positive thinking. The utilitarian theory of punishment seeks to punish offenders to discourage, or deter. Reformative theory of punishment pdf download this paper open pdf in browser share email add to. Theories of punishment for safe, orderly, peaceful and prosperous society to exist and flourish the following tools of theory are found to be good guides. The retributive theory this theory holds that punishment should be administered simply because an offence has been committed, for which the offender deserves to be punished hospers, 1967. Also part of the repenting process is the idea of atonement and reparations, or making up somehow for your crime to. It also serves as a warning to the offender not to repeat such acts in. According to the reformative theory, the aim of punishment is the improvement of the offender himself. Offences are committed by reason of conflict between the interests, real or apparent, of the wrongdoer and those of society at large. George hegel and immanuel kant criticized and rejected the utility theory, presented the contrast retributive theory of punishment, which is of nonutilitarian on the premises that punishment is not means to an end but end in itself.
With the passage of time various theories have been proposed with special reference to the contemporary legal systems. Also part of the repenting process is the idea of atonement and reparations, or making up somehow for your crime to either the victim or their family. Law theory, legal positivism, legal realism and critical legal studies. The guilty deserve to be punished, and no moral consideration relevant to punishment outweighs the offenders criminal desert is the philosophy of retributive theory. This theory lives even to day in many muslim countries.
An eye of an eye, a hand for a hand and a limb for limb was the law. It means that the pain to be inflicted on the offender of the act in the same way as he did. According to one of the theories of punishment, evil. The history of punishment by lewis lyons, published by. At times, severe punishments like death by stoning or. Theories of punishment are a controversial and frequently debated topic. To be deducted from this assertion is the fact that punishment is administered because of, not in order to as held by utilitarian view. Pdf zusammenfugen pdfdateien online kostenlos zu kombinieren. Punishment is awarded to reduce crimes and used as means to an end, is the claim of the utilitarian. This theory is peculiar in nature which is properly explained in hindu jurisprudence. A proper theory regarding a system of punishment has been subject of debate for many centuries. The term crime does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,1 though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes.
According to this theory, punishment is a warning to others. Short essay on the preventive theory of punishment. Retributive definition of retributive by the free dictionary. The early history of punishment begins with gildamesh, the samarian king of uruk, who reigned around 2700 bc. However, there is little either by way of theory or by way of large. Can overlap with deterrent and reformative theories. The retributive theory seeks to punish offenders because they deserve to be punished. Perspectives on corporal punishment to put the results of the metaanalyses into perspective, i consider the effects of corporal punishment from three different viewpoints. At times, severe punishments like death by stoning or whipping, mutilation of limbs etc are awarded even to minor offences. Preventive theory this theory too aims to prevent the crime rather than avenging it.
According to reformative theory, the object is of punishment is the reformation of criminals. Philosophical analysis of the theories of punishment in. A sentence may, however, combine utilitarian ideals with retribution. Punishment administered in return for a wrong committed. Accordingly, he was not eager to emphasize the similarities between, or the complementary character of expiatory and cooperative. This theory was based on natural justice, which is expressed by the maxim an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The modem age seems generally to favour and apply this theory.
Learning theory despite the comprehensiveness of gershoffs 2002 article, there was no discussion about the theoretical underpinnings of corporal punishment as a form of. Even if an offender commits a crime under certain circumstances. This theory justifies capital punishment as an extreme form of punishment because of its determent effect. This free online tool allows to combine multiple pdf or image files into a single pdf document. During the nineteenth century, a theory of punishment was developed which stated that life is regulated by calculating the pleasures and pains. Not only to prevent the wrongdoer from doing a wrong, but also to make him an example for others, calculated to curb criminal tendency in others. Punishment introduces and defends a new unified theory of punishment that brings together multiple purposes such as desert, crime reduction and restoration within one coherent theory that is pluralistic, novel and groundbreaking providing new insights into criminal. Problems with determining what people deserve 78 7. Criminal punishment and the pursuit of justice harvard law school. Firstly, a kid who falls down and kicks the floor inadvertently. The utilitarian authors will offer answers to such questions as. Middle english retribucion, repayment, reward, from old french retribution, from late latin retributio, retribution, from latin retributus.
Our pdf merger allows you to quickly combine multiple pdf files into one single pdf document, in just a few clicks. Some of the examples are death punishment, life time imprisonment, etc. Generally, it is believed to be a firm of taking revenge and would not serve only penal purpose. A theory of differential punishment vanderbilt university. To punish a man in order to convey a lesson to others is improper and in human.
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