Type and aims of punishment
Often the aims of a punishment overlap, eg sending people to prison aims to deter people from committing similar crimes and it aims to protect the public from the individual who is guilty of the crime. Here are four recognised aims of punishment:
- deterrence - punishment that aims to put people off committing crime
- reformation - punishment that aims to reformTo make changes to something or someone, for improvement. the criminal
- retribution - punishment that aims to make the criminal pay for what they have done wrong
- justice - the aim is to ensure that the right and fair thing is done
Different methods are used to punish criminals for their offences. Each punishment is associated with different aims.
| Punishment | Aim |
| Prison | deterrence/reformation |
| Electronic tagging | deterrence |
| Fines | retribution |
| Community service | reformation/retribution |
| Capital punishment | deterrence |
| Probation | reformation |
| Punishment | Prison |
|---|---|
| Aim | deterrence/reformation |
| Punishment | Electronic tagging |
|---|---|
| Aim | deterrence |
| Punishment | Fines |
|---|---|
| Aim | retribution |
| Punishment | Community service |
|---|---|
| Aim | reformation/retribution |
| Punishment | Capital punishment |
|---|---|
| Aim | deterrence |
| Punishment | Probation |
|---|---|
| Aim | reformation |
Question
What is meant by punishment?
Punishment is a penalty given to a person for a crime they have committed. An example of this is a prison sentence for someone who has stolen goods.