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Deterrence Theory Of Punishment Essay

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The retributive theory of punishment follows that punishment is used as a means of retributive justice. It is intended to rebalance any unjust advantage gained by the offender by ensuring that the offender suffers a loss. It is viewed as a way of getting even with the offender. The suffering of the offender does not have any restorative benefits to the victim but it is a desired goal. Offenders are punished because they deserve to be punished. Crime offsets societal balance and punishment restores this balance. The view is that human beings have free will and capable of making rational decisions. An individual who makes a rational decision to upset the balance of society must be punished (Mishra, 2016).
The deterrence theory of punishment justifies punishment as a necessary measure to prevent people from committing crimes. It deters previous offenders and those who have not committed a crime and are contemplating committing crimes. The punishment should be sufficient so that people choose not to commit the crime rather than being punished. Laws are intended to maximise happiness in the society. …show more content…

This theory views punishment as a measure to deter the offender and others from committing crime. In this case, the recommendation is aimed at discouraging others from using lulu powder against other Hartopians. Omnicron is not remorseful about the incident and the recommended plea bargain shows this. Because punishment is intended to deter the offender from re offending, it is material that the offender acknowledges the crime and regrets it commission. A remorseful offender is not likely to reoffend because of the fear of punishment (Greenawalt, 1983). Omnicron does not acknowledge that he committed a crime and the recommended sentence is sufficient so that the offender chooses not to commit the

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While many opponents argue the economics of the issue, they fail to acknowledge that the main goals of punishment are to correct behavior that is deviant from the law and to prevent similar incidences from occurring. Without capital punishment, the culprits would not have to confront the potential of death, meaning that the marginal cost of violent crime would be diminished. Therefore, capital punishment is an effective method to deter

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Within this framework, individuals are considered to make rational choices, equally capable of reason and therefore shall be deemed responsible for their actions and deterred through potential threat. Today, classical thinking is evident in sentencing via the “just deserts” approach. This approach to sentencing assures that someone who is found guilty of a crime must be punished for the crime. The just deserts approach rejects individual discretion and rehabilitation – insisting “justice must be

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This will also give each member of a society a duty. Giving someone a duty makes them feel important and needed in society, which could lower the crime

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The deterrence theory suggests that “the severity of criminal sanctions dissuades other potential offenders from committing crimes out of fear of punishment. ”4 That is applicable to the individuals that are punished and to people in the community. Nevertheless, prison’s effectiveness is often questioned as an effective deterrent to crime. Studies have shown that longer sentences have a small effect on whether offenders commit crimes or not, and the National Academy of Sciences determined that “insufficient evidence exists to justify predicating policy choices on the general assumption that harsher punishments yield measurable deterrent effects.

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Likewise, a deterrence rationale seeks to protect society by attempting to prevent either the offender from committing similar misdeeds in the future or discouraging similar behavior from others. Moreover, by embracing a rationale of rehabilitation a judge believes that an offender, through undergoing certain tasks, may once again function as a member of society. Lastly, the restoration rationale solely focuses on attempting to make a victim or society whole, as they were before the

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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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Deterrence and the Death Penalty: The Views of the Experts. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1973-), 87(1), 1. doi:10.2307/1143970 This article was written by Michael L. Radelet and Ronald L. Akers. They both consulted experts on criminology and criminal behaviour to evaluate the effectiveness of the Death Penalty.

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Determinate vs. Indeterminate Sentencing Sentencing is a fundamental stage in the of the criminal justice process. After the trial process is complete and the defendant has been found guilty the court will impose the penalty. The basic goals of modern sentencing are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation and restoration. These goals are achieved by different sentencing practices which are indeterminate and determinate sentencing.

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Muhlhausen’s emotional appeals does affect the audience’s decision for the deterrence theory. For example, Muhlhausen states that criminals are no different from law-abiding people. Criminal based their decisions on the net costs and benefits of each alternative, where they maximize their own self-interest subject to restrictions that they face in the marketplace and elsewhere (Muhlhausen, David). In other word, the criminals are most likely to commit the crime if the

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Brendon Mcconney Criminology Theory 4/15/2023 Introduction I finally settled on the Deterrence theory as my theory of choice. According to the deterrence theory, hedonistic and rational individuals will be discouraged from committing crimes if they are aware that they will be punished and that the punishment must be certain, which means that it is highly likely that the individual who is committing the crime will be apprehended and punished, Swift indicates that the punishment must be administered quickly in order to be effective; prolonging the punishment would have the opposite effect. Severe implies that the punishment must correspond to the offense and should not be excessively harsh in order to have a negative impact. The deterrence theory

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Today our justice system has a multitude of options when dealing with those who are convicted of offenses. However, many argue that retributive justice is the only real justice there is. This is mainly because its advantage is that it gives criminals the appropriate punishment that they deserve. The goals of this approach are clear and direct. In his book The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr Howard (2002), illustrates that the central focus of retributive justice is offenders getting what they deserve (p. 30).

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Thus, punishment cannot be too severe as it used to be before the birth of classical criminology because it can cause an unwanted result: the increase of crimes (Bernard, Snipes and Gerould, 2016, 40). It should be as severe as it is necessary to be in particular case and it should be severe enough to deter society from breaking law and delinquent from reoffending. The certainty means that the punishment will be occurred if the law has been broken. The celerity consists on immediately inflicted a penalty (Newburn, 2017). After calculated by an individual how severe, certain and swift the punishment can be there is a bigger

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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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This is a problem of allocation of resources. The money the state spends on the fight for illegal behavior is limited, and every enforcement mechanism like prohibition and institutionalization comes with a cost. The best way to reduce this cost is to apply fines wherever possible because it is the least costly to the state and a compensation for victims (Becker 1968, 207-209). Like in the other articles, the evolution of the enforcement system is not mentioned in this article. Also, fines are not always the optimal solution.

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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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