In: Psychology
Historically, what are the main objectives of punishment? In your opinion, and based what you have learned throughout the classes you took in the CJBS major, how important these main objectives appear to be in the 21st century Correctional settings?
Historically, the main objective of
punishment was to inflict pain on to the person receiving it. The
person receives a negative experience or an unpleasant stimuli,
which is often done in response to a crime committed by a person or
an act committed by a person that might appear to be offensive.
Even in the ancient times, punishment was set as an example in the
society. The only purpose of subjecting one to punishment had been
retribution.
even in the current times, the sole purpose of punishment is not retribution. Rather, punishment and its meaning has widened its horizon. Now, punishment is understood to create deterrence in the society. Even in modern times, the older objectives of punishment continue to be important.
Through deterrence, other people get discouraged to carry out offence of a similar nature.
Through retribution offenders are
made to pay for their crimes or suffer for their crimes. The basic
idea behind this is to make the person realise the gravity of their
offence. An example of this is capital punishment.
other forms of punishment include incarceration and rehabilitation.
These, though, do not align with the primary objective of
punishment.