Assignment: Punishment Research Paper Statistics show that there is a high rate of criminal recidivism in the United States. This raises the question, "Does punishment deter crime?"

Essay by Chuckzt January 2009

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Punishment Research Paper 1Punishment Research PaperPunishment Research Paper 2The concept of punishment and its practical application and justification during the past half-century have shown a marked deviance from efforts to reform and rehabilitate offenders. The four justifications for punishment currently used in our society today are retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation and societal protection. Punishment in its very concept is favorably perceived as a retributive practice. Our society uses these four forms of punishment attempting to lower crime rates.

Retribution is the first of the four justifications for punishment I will be discussing. Retribution is defined as the moral vengeance to satisfy a society to make the offender suffer as much as the suffering caused. This type of justification for punishment is the oldest of the four ways. This type of punishment was designed to satisfy the people's need for a type of closure that satisfies the moral of society. In principle, punishment should be equal in severity to the deviance itself.

It all comes down to equal justice; An eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth.

One example of how retribution was used is Jeffery Dahmer's punishment for the conviction and 15 confirmed murders throughout the course of his life. Dahmer was sentenced to 15 life sentences totaling 937 years imprisonment. Just Desert is also referred to as retributive justice. Just Desert has been an active discussion around the world for many years. Some countries and religions still believe in "an eye for an eye." According to Wikipedia "Retributive justice is a theory of justice that proportionate punishment is a morally acceptable response to crime, regardless of whether the punishment causes any tangible benefits.

Punishment Research Paper 3In ethics and law, "Let the punishment fit the crime" is the principle that the severity of penalty...