Essay on Does The Punishment Fit The Crime - 851 Words

Punishing the unlawful, undesirable and deviant members of society is an aspect of criminal justice that has experienced a variety of transformations throughout history. Although the concept of retribution has remained a constant (the idea that the law breaker must somehow pay his/her debt to society), the methods used to enforce and achieve that retribution has changed a great deal. The growth and development of society along with an underlying, perpetual fear of crime are heavily linked to the use of vastly different forms of punishment that have ranged from public executions, forced labor, penal welfarism and popular punitivism over the course of only a few hundred years. Crime constructs us as a society whilst society,†¦show more content†¦They had to die repenting their sins, in order to save their souls at the last moment. The execution of a disbeliever was not a perfect one† (Spierenburg, 59). Using public executions as the main form of punishment was the earli est stages of modern state-making, which exemplifies a crude and most basic attempt to stop criminal behavior. Society slowly continued to evolve, and resulted in an increase in the value placed upon a human life (Rusche and Kirchheimer). Since society, crime and punishment have direct correlations with one another, this emphasis on the value of human life affected the way in which the state punished. Instead of public executions, which were intended to torture and humiliate a person in order to achieve deterrence within the society, prisoners were sentenced to galley servitude. Galley servitude was a method of punishment that was able to economically benefit the state because it filled the workforce with cheap labor while providing a more â€Å"humane† punishment for criminals. Eventually, galley servitude became obsolete and attention was turned to houses of correction as a form of punishment. It began with a â€Å"gradual rise of imprisonment implemented by the necessit y for special treatment of women and for differentiation in the treatment of various social strata†Show MoreRelatedDoes The Punishment Fit The Crime? Essay1220 Words   |  5 Pages Does the punishment fit the crime? The Death penalty is a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The death penalty is the punishment of execution, administered to someone legally convicted of a capital crime. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. According Kyle Gibson of â€Å"Mic Policy†Read MoreEssay on Level of Punishment Does Not Fit the Crime1008 Words   |  5 Pagesof serious crimes that the justice system fails to make sure that criminals pay the price for the devastation that they cause. For example, Johannes Mehserl only served 2 years in prison for the killing of innocent member of public, Oscar Grant. At the same time, there are examples of 5 years prison sentences for the possession of marijuana. This is enormously unfair, as someone who can take the life of another human being should receive a far harsher punishment than someone whose crime only effectsRead MoreClassical Criminology : Criminal Justice Policies And Against The Spiritual Explanation Of Crime Essay1087 Words   |  5 PagesClassical Criminology is focused on the punishment of crime rather than the causation of crime. The classicism theory of criminology is the concepts of legal system and its approach during the 1700’s (‘Enlightenment period’). 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The United States shouldRead 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 MoreImplementing An Effective Punishment For An Offender1653 Words   |  7 Pages Achieving justice for all and providing appropriate punishment to fit all crimes is a prominent issue within the criminal justice system. In considering an effective punishment for an offender, the law must be mindful of both the moral and legal rights of a number of parties, including the society, the offender, and the victim, in order to achieve true justice for all (Warren 2005) - a process proving controversial and almost impossible in many cases. Whilst aiming to provide a system in which citizensRead MoreCapital Punishment Is Not A Better Than Life Imprisonment1400 Words   |  6 PagesCapital punishment is the legally authorized killing of someone as punishment for a crime. Although capital punishment is wrong and is the killing of a human being, capital punishment is legal in thirty-two of the fifty states in the United States, meaning that the other eighteen states outlaw it as a punishment for crime. States that capital punishment is legal in all have different guideline s for what is punishable by death, but mostly murder or other capital offenses are what is punished. CapitalRead MoreThe Deterrence Theory By Thomas Hobbes1347 Words   |  6 Pagesskin color? Although, we would love to believe that we live in a perfect world where everyone is given the justice that they deserve unfortunately, it does not always end up that way for some. Indeed, the Deterrence Theory then comes into play making sure that not only is everyone treated equally but, also making sure that it sees fit that the punishment given is carefully taken into consideration. The Deterrence Theory was first introduced by theorist Thomas Hobbes who was then followed up on the theoryRead MoreCapital Punishment Should Be Legal933 Words   |  4 Pagesshould capital punishment be applied to minors and, if so how young it too young? Although, capital punishment has been a part of the United States for many years, the United States still have yet to figure out how to solve all its dilemmas and whether or not capital punishment should be administered to minors. Debates about the use of capital punishment for juveniles have grown increasingly intense, within the last ten years, because of the alarming increase of serious and violent crimes that demandRead MoreEqual Punishment And Proportional Retribution1443 Words   |  6 Pages In this essay, I will argue that equal punishment and proportional retribution do not justify the use of the death penalty. First, I will argue that equal punishment is too specific and literal because it stems from the idea that o ne crime is deserving of that exact crime in the form of a legal punishment. In the case of murder, that belief would condone punishing murder with murder. We can’t justify some killings while condemning others. By giving permission to someone to execute another human