The Justifications Of Prison And Punishment - 975 Words

The area this dissertation will be focusing on is the justifications of prison and punishment, and looking at whether these objectives are being achieved today in the current prisonsystem, with a thorough analysis of short sentences. In order to analyse this, short sentences will be looked at to discover whether the prison system is working. Throughout history, punishment has always had to be justified. For example, pre-19th century, punishment, which included being sent to the gallows or being placed in the stocks, had the justification of being a deterrent, as punishment was a very public event (BBC, 2012). This type of punishment was then met with â€Å"Petitions against executions and torture increased in the eighteenth century† (Poster, 1984), and as a result of these petitions, theorists such as Beccaria (1764) spoke of creating a punishment that removed the element of torture. Foucault (1975) spoke of the moving of punishment from the body to the mind, in order to â€Å"present the prospect that their acts would that their acts would cause more pain than pleasure so that, as rational beings, they would avoid committing illegalities in the first place† (Poster, 1984). Prison has therefore been justified since the Gladstone Report (Departmental Committee on Prisons,1895), which set the tone for penal policy, stating that prison would have a deterrent function; there would also be a rehabilitative ideal about prison. The objectives of prison, as described by Jewkes et alShow MoreRelatedJustification Of Punishment Justified By Ted Honderinch s Punishment1038 Words   |  5 PagesWhy punish? Is the use of punishment Justified? Ted Honderinch’s Punishment: The supposed Justifications Revisited aim to answer these questions. Punishment is at the core of our punitive systems, therefore society needs to establish a well thought-out moral explanation as to why we punish and what we aim to achieve with the use of punishment. Honderinch set out to analyze the supposed moral claims that justify the practice of punishment and to determine if they are satisfactory enough for the intentionalRead MoreThe Prison System Should Be Abolished1237 Words   |  5 Pagesthat the prison system needs to be abolished. The prison system which is a significant part of punishment is incompetent and deeply flawed in the United States. Prison system reform needs immediate attention while abolition permanently will require time. Nietzsche’s theory of punishment explains how punishment come about in society and Davis’s critique of the prison system helps back my argument that the prison system needs to be abolished. Traditionally, there have been four justifications for punishment:Read MoreSociological Perspective Of Punishment Is Economic Determinism And Class Interest1459 Words   |  6 PagesGarland, D. (2015). Sociological perspective of punishment. [online] http://www.umass.edu/legal/Benavides/Fall2005/397G/Readings%20Legal%20397%20G/8%20David%20Garland.pdf. Available at: http://www.umass.edu/legal/Benavides/Fall2005/397G/Readings%20Legal%20397%20G/8%20David%20Garland.pdf [Accessed 20 Apr. 2015]. The second justification for punishment are economic determinism and class interest. Marxist see punishment in relation to the economic structure of society in which it takes place and toRead MoreThe Justification Of Punishment Today s Society999 Words   |  4 PagesThe justification of punishment in today’s society as stated by Bartollas Seigel indicates that since â€Å"it is applied by the duly authorized government body on somebody who has violated the laws of society† (2013) the issuance is therefore just. The concept of punishing law violators in return will benefit the law abiding populace is derived from Bartollas Siegel’s statement that â€Å"Punishing law violators provides beneficial consequences† (2013). Likewise, the assertion that the application andRead MoreRehabilitation Is The Best Punishment For Juvenile Crime900 Words   |  4 Pagesvalues for the philosophical justification for punishing juvenile crime is†¦retribution, deterr ence, and rehabilitation also known as correction in the juvenile court system. There is no doubt that if a crime is committed, the offender should and shall be punished. The doubt come in when the offender(s) are under the age of eighteen which is the majority for most states. A juvenile crime is different case-by-case, therefore, there is a debate on the severity of the punishment. Should we transfer to adultRead MoreJustifications for Punishment in Modern Society1630 Words   |  7 PagesProvide the justifications for punishment in modern society. Punishment functions as a form of social control and is geared towards â€Å"imposing some unwanted burden such as fines, probations, imprisonment, or even death† on a convicted person in return for the crimes they committed (Stohr, Walsh, Hemmens, 2013, p.6). There are four main justifications for punishment and they are: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. There is also said to be a fifth justificatio n of reintegrationRead MorePunishment Research Paper1317 Words   |  6 PagesPunishment Research Paper Megan Marie Kayser University of Phoenix June 12, 2011 Patrice Jackson SOC/120 Punishment Research Paper There have been four types of justification for punishment throughout the years of society. From older punishments such as retribution to more modern punishments like societal protection, all have been put in place to protect society and to punish individuals for their deviant acts. To find out which type of justification for punishment is most effective, oneRead MoreCapital Punishment And The Death Penalty946 Words   |  4 Pages Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is a legal sentence for the convicted to be put to death for their criminal behavior. How the convicted criminal is executed varies from state to state. I do not believe that the death penalty is justifiable in almost any instance, if any. Throughout this class, I have read and experienced confusion on my opinion of whether capital punishment can be justifiable. If there was an absolute 100% belief and proof of guilt for the most serious of crimes (murderRead MoreThe Punishment Of A Criminal854 Words   |  4 Pagesdifferent philosophies behind the punishment of a criminal include just about every moral justification that crosses a human being’s mind. The ideology behind philosophies of punishment in the criminal justice system has mainly derived from the globally understood â€Å"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth† from the Old Testament and the clichà © â€Å"The punishment must fit the crime† concerning retributive punishment. Both of these statements involve retributive punishment. This is because most of the criminalRead MoreOutline of the Basic Principles of Sentencing Essay1277 Words   |  6 Pagessociety and people in the society; as a result, researchers and criticisers have always inspected it. This essay will outline the basic principles of sentencing in United Kingdom. There are five general aims or functions or justifications of punishment in the UK’s legal system, which are: 1. RETRIBUTION Retribution rests on the notion that if a person has knowingly done wrong, he or she deserves to be punished. This idea was at the heart of the previous Conservative