Punishment

Punishment Terri McCauley Axia College of University of Phoenix May 16, 2010 Conventionally society understands of three arguments for the punishment of offenders. One of the first arguments is that punishment is obliging ethically, and that punishment is essential for the public to experience ethically content. The other two explanations are that punishment deters crime and that punishment may rehabilitate the offender. Before one can come up with a conclusion on how effective punishments are, one must look into the life of the crime. To do this, an individual must understand the meaning of deviance. Is deviance in civilization a natural occurrence or is deviance in civilization a curiosity. Is deviance sociological or emotional' What forces citizens to execute acts of crime' Some people believe that people are born with a gene of deviance that activates at any time. Deviance is frequently been analyze as an individual event that has come into effect by psychological factors and genetic, social, and stress factors that lead a person to commit acts of crime, which are scandalous to the eyes of civilization. Our culture uses four forms of punishment that helps lower the crime rate. During the past crime has not affected only civilization, but crime was thought to have also been aimed at God himself. Although retribution is a form of punishment, the Bible explains that the punishment should not exceed the crime. This is meant to explain that the punishment should match the crime. Any member of civilization, which was the offender was to be punish equally, and as atrocious as the crime that the offender did commit. Some people may not have the same opinion that justice is served because the punishment does not bring back the dead or relieve the pain that a love one experiences. However, to please society’s need for punishment, retribution is necessary by punishing the offender, which by this means causes affliction to the same degree that the criminal also causes. Although retribution may not improve the fraudulent behavior of the criminal; however, retribution does serve the purpose of appeasing civilizations need for re-establishing moral order as revenge would be sought-after if punishment was not force able. People identify retribution as the moral revenge to please a society to make the criminal undergo suffering as much as the suffering caused (Macionis, p. 244, 2007). Retribution is the oldest of the four types of justification for punishments. Retribution was in mind to please the citizens need for a type of resolution that satisfies the ethics of society. Punishment should be equal in harshness to the deviance itself (Macionis, p. 246). One example of how retribution was used is Jeffery Dahmer’s punishment for the 15 confirmed murders, which he was condemn to 15 life sentences, totaling 937 years in prison (Chapter 7, p. 182). Deterrence is the second justifications for punishments, which is the attempt to eliminate crime by punishment. This started about the eighteenth century. This is a type of punishment that gives examples of punishment made known to the citizens in advance before he or she decides to become a criminal. The notion is establish on the thought that people will not break the law because he or she believes the pain of the punishment will outweigh the pleasure of the crime (Macionis, p. 244). Each day people leave for work and they have the opportunity to leave early to reach his or her destination without breaking the law by speeding, running red lights, or stop signs. Even if he or she chooses to speed knowing the consequences of speeding ahead of time; receiving a speeding ticket as punishment may be worth the risk to some people. However, murdering someone may not be a risk to take because the pain of murder’s punishment is much worse than a ticket to most people (Chapter 7, p. 182). Rehabilitation is the third justification for punishment. This is a plan that has a purpose to reform the criminals to stop crime in the future. This design came about the social sciences in the nineteenth century that shows a successful result. Reformatories and houses of correction have locations where citizens (criminals) can learn proper behavior. An example of how rehabilitation is used today occurs when a criminal is committing crimes due from drug use; the judge may sentence this individual to Drug and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings instead of sending that individual to jail. After the individual is done with his or her rehabilitation then, it is the individual’s responsibility to follow the path of freedom or to go back to his or her old ways. Out of the four justifications this is the most forgiving and positive punishment because it gives the criminal a second chance to make his or her life a normal one. Different from retribution, which stresses that the punishment fit the crime, rehabilitation customizes treatment to each criminal (Chapter 7, p. 183). Societal protection is the fourth and final justification for punishment. Societal protection favors the citizens by making the criminal powerless to further crimes through imprisonment or by execution (Macionis, p. 245). This type of punishment is different from rehabilitation in that the criminal receives no special treatment that offers hopes to change him or her, which His or her surroundings is a cell (a very small area) or chamber that protects society from him or her. This is a method that can be helpful to the criminal because this could give the criminal a chance to reform. The United States alone incarcerates over 2.2 million criminals in prison. According to the Times, the crime rate has been less in recent years, although the number of criminals in prison across the country has gone up since 1980 (Macionis, p. 245). In conclusion the four types of justification for punishment, which include retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and societal protection, are successful ways that civilization deals with criminals. Justification for punishments is an attempt to protect citizens by guaranteeing proper punishment is carried out. Because crime has statistically been lower in the past 25 years people can see that the justice system has a successful effect on crime. References Macionis, J.J., Chapter 7 Deviance. Society the Basics 8th Edition, Published by Prentice-Hall Copyright 2006 Pearson Education, INC. Retrieved on May 16, 2010 Pizarro, J.M., Stenius, Supermax Prisons Myths, Realities, and the Politics of Punishment in American Society. Criminal Justice Policy Review Vol 17 (1) March 6-21, 2006, 2006 Sage Publications., Retrieved from EBSCOHost May 16, 2010 Pogorzelski, W., Wolff, Behavioral Health Problems, Ex-Offender Reentry Policies, and the \ “Second Chance Act”., Retrieved on May 16, 2010