Comparing The Goals Of Sentencing And General Deterrence

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Sentencing is the act of imposing lawfully-approved sanctions against a person or persons convicted of a criminal act. The are several goals to sentencing but this paper will focus on the goal of deterrence. Deterrence is used to discourage or prevent crimes from being committed. This discouragement comes in two forms: specific deterrence and general deterrence. Specific deterrence is aimed strictly at an individual already convicted of a crime and is used to deter that individual from committing future criminal acts. General deterrence is using the punishment of an individual as an example to others so they will refrain from committing similar acts (Schmalleger & Smykla, n.d.).
The theory of deterrence as a punishment can be traced