INTRODUCTION
Crime and punishment grip the public imagination. The media regularly bombards us with the latest news on crime statistics while our air waves are saturated by pundits debating how crimes should be punished. Moreover, crime and punishment affect us. Today, approximately seven million Americans are either in prison or on probation or parole. Nearly 60 million Americans have criminal record. This is almost 30 percent of the U.S adult population. It is then, easy to understand the increasing importance of crime and punishment to citizens and politicians alike. Some have even suggested that the penal system is in a state of crisis.
The question of this paper is that ‘how should we punish crimes and different theories of punishment-
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2) Punishments must be of a person for breaking the law.
3) Punishment must be administered and imposed intentionally by an authority with a legal system.
4) Punishment must involve a loss.
5) Punishment as a response.
Punishment must be for a crime: punishment is a response to crime. We must only punish the person or persons who broke the law and not the innocent persons. The punishment must also be administered and imposed intentionally by an authority with a legal system, such as the state. Finally the punishment imposed must involve a loss. Together, these four parts must be present for there to be a punishment for a crime to a criminal.
Before dealing with theories of punishments, it would be pertinent to explain the concept of punishment.
1) What is inflicted is an ill, that is something unpleasant;
2) It is a sequel to some act which is disapproved by authority;
3) There is some correspondence between the punishment and the act which has evoked it;
4) Punishment is inflicted, that it is imposed by someone’s voluntary act;
5) Punishment is inflicted upon the criminal, or upon someone who is supposed to be answerable for him and for his wrong