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Deterrence Theory Essay

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Recommended: Theories around deterrence

Jayda Colley
Assignment 2
Criminological Theory
Dr. Ruth Triplett
2-3-23

“Deterrence Theory”

According to deterrence theory, rather than being driven by a strong moral sense, people refrain from committing crimes because of fear of being detected. The deterrence theory hypothesis claims that rapid, certain, and severe punishment is the most effective way to deter criminal behavior. According to the deterrence theory of punishment, the imposition of criminal punishment is ethically acceptable since it works to discourage crime. The deterrence hypothesis is frequently associated with the notion of harsh, disproportionate punishment since the fear of external punishment is a significant motivator in crime deterrence. Threats or limited use of force by one person can persuade another party to forgo taking other action, according to the deterrence theory, which is a branch of theory and practice. According to Beccaria in particular, classical crime theory is predicated on the idea that people are free of choice and hence entirely accountable for their actions, as well as having the capacity to consider their options in a reasonable manner. Within the framework of the criminal justice system, Beccaria emphasized personal dignity. Against torture and the death penalty, he took a stance. The U.S. The …show more content…

Beccaria demanded that laws be worded and that the public be made aware of the law and the associated penalties so that people would be informed about the repercussions of their actions. Classical theory’s fundamental tenets later became known as deterrence theory. According to Beccaria, the purpose of the law is to protect the social contract and advance society as a whole. However, because people act in ways that serve their interests, which can occasionally conflict with societal norms, they commit

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Within the past couple of decades, criminologists have developed different criminological theories that apply to the social behaviors and decisions of criminals. One of the earliest theories developed regarding criminality is the rational choice theory, in which describes the rationalization of determining if the rewards from committing the crime outweigh the consequences. In Scarver’s case, his decision to engage in criminal activities outweighed the potential consequences, or the other alternatives if he did not engage in such criminal activities. In addition to the rational choice theory, Scarver’s criminality can be related to the social disorganization theory, which describes the influence of one’s social and physical environment on one’s decision to commit a crime. Lastly, the strain theory can be related to Scarver’s criminality as well, as it is used to describe an individual who lacks the means to obtain such goals, and aspirations, so therefore, he or she engages in criminal activities to acquire the goals.

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Deterrence is future oriented to prevent crimes. Deterrence has two types general and specific. General is an individual punishment to dissuade others from committing crimes and specific is an individual being punished for additional

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37). Beccaria provided three characteristics that influence a person’s likelihood of committing a crime: swiftness, certainty, and severity. These were the qualities that a potential offender would deliberate on before carrying out their transgression. He believed that a punishment should come as soon as possible after the crime, should have a strong impression on potential offenders, and should be worse than the benefits from the crime (Tibbetts, p. 38). As long as a punishment had all three characteristics, a rational person should be deterred from that behavior.

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The classical theory of crime says that people make rational choices when they commit crimes. “Individuals have the will and rationality to act according to their own will and desires. Individuals will calculate the rationality of the crime based on the benefits of the crime versus the consequences of the crime” (Robinson, 2014). This theory discuses that how people think about the negative and positive outcomes before they commit crime. Even though they realize it is not right, they still continue to commit illegal offence because they believe that what they are doing is for the greater

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It does not consider other factors such as criminal associations, individual traits, and inner strains, which plays a significant role in determining punishment for the individuals in committing crimes. It is observed that this theory endeavours to know that whether the activities of crime as well as the victim’s choice, criminals commit the activities on start from rational decisions. The theory also determines that criminals consider different elements before committing crime. They engage in the exchange of ideas before reaching on any final decision. These elements consist of consequences of their crimes, which include revealing their families to problems or death, chances of being arrested, and others elements, which comprises of placement of surveillance systems (Walsh & Hemmens, 2010; Lichbach,

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There are two types of deterrence which are general deterrence and specific deterrence. General deterrence uses the person sentenced for a crime is for the public know. Specific deterrence punishes the offender so that the offender will not commit the crime again.

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Within the three deterrents of the theory, the most potent component is the certainty aspect. The certainty component describes the effectiveness of ensuring a punishment is given to a perpetrator. This insurance of punishment distills a fear of facing a consequence and greatly decreases a person's desire to commit a crime. In

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Neoclassical perspectives consist of rational choice theory, deterrence and routines activities theory. All three theories coincide together in that they deem that criminals are normal and make the rational choice to commit crimes after outweighing the risks and consequences. Though the three theories coincided with each other, they differ in other aspects. Rational choice theory assume offenders choose whether to commit crimes after considering the risks and rewards, thus chooses not to commit crimes if the risks outweigh the reward. Gary S. Becker, compared that criminals choose committing a crime as consumers choose buying products.

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It is defined as the use of punishment as a threat which is considered as a means to prevent people from reoffending or to reduce the probability or level of offending (Lee, 2017). The concept of this theory has two main assumptions, these include specific punishments imposed on offenders possibly will prevent the offender from committing future crimes and that fear of punishment could others from committing similar crimes (Lee, 2017). Incapacitation theory of punishment is a theory which argues offenders must be removed from society in order to prevent them from committing further crime. The philosophy of this theory depend on the ability of the community to identify offenders that might re-offender. The physical removal of offenders from the community is the primary method of this theory in majority of modern punishment systems.

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General and Specific deterrence have good and bad effects on citizens. It prevents crime and some cases and fuels the rage in some. General deterrence focuses on preventing the crime before it happens. The thought of spending life in prison for committing a murder is very scary to me. You would think that could deter criminals from committing that crime.

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In the case of the death penalty, it has the added bonus in guaranteeing that the person would not offend again. Supporters of harsh punishments argue that the would-be criminal would consider the costs versus the benefits of committing a crime. If the costs outweigh the benefits, then it is assumed that he would stop what he is doing, effectively ‘deterred’. Furthermore, the usage of harsh punishments to effectively deter crime is ethically justified as it prevents more people from falling victim to crime. However it is extremely difficult to judge a punishment’s effectiveness based on its deterrence effect, consequently we must consider other variables that would entail a person to commit a crime.

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