The Theories Of Punishment Article - 1571 Words

In The Theories of Punishment article in the legal dictionary, it goes over the different theories that the government has on the use of punishment. In the utilitarian philosophy laws are meant to increase the happiness of society by eliminating crime. They realize that the possibility of a crime-free world is non-existent, so minimizing the rate of crime is the only solution to a happy life for the citizens. â€Å"†¦laws that specify punishment for criminal conduct should be designed to deter future criminal conduct,† (Theories of Punishment). There is no extent to the force of punishment; punishment should never be limited if crime is to be at a minimum. In the utilitarian philosophy, punishment is meant to deter crimes from happening again in†¦show more content†¦Another form of punishment is rehabilitation. Rehabilitation gives the criminals that are locked away a chance to succeed in jail or prison. â€Å"The goal of rehabilitation is to prevent future crim e by giving offenders the ability to succeed within the confines of the law,† (Theories of Punishment). Another base of punishment is through retribution. A criminal based on their past crimes will be punished accordingly for their criminal history and the severity of their crimes. The third major rationale for criminal punishment is denunciation. The denunciation theory is a mix between utilitarianism and retribution. It is utilitarian in the way that it makes their punishment public with the deterrent and retribution plays a part when the criminal is being punished. The article Sentencing Guidelines: Reflections on the Future discusses sentencing policies. The guidelines for sentencing varies with the policy. Guidelines, initially, were meant to keep defendants from being mistreated with their sentencing compared to similar criminal acts as well as discretion or lack of uniform. As time went by it was used as a way to predict sentencing. Now in many states computer based machines can calculate the dollar amount that will or can be used in order to meet the states sentencing policies. â€Å"In some States, this use of guidelines led in turn to the realization that they could be used to shape sentencing policy to fit resource levels that had