Punishment

For other uses, see Punishment (disambiguation).
Criminology and penology
Theory
Major theorists
Types of crime
Methods
Penology
Justice in penology
Schools
Subfields
Browse
The old village stocks in Chapeltown, Lancashire, England

Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority[1][2][3][4][5]—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or behavior that is deemed undesirable.[6] It is, however, possible to distinguish between various different understandings of what punishment is.[7]

The reasoning for punishment may be to condition a child to avoid self-endangerment, to impose social conformity (in particular, in the contexts of compulsory education or military discipline[8]), to defend norms, to protect against future harms (in particular, those from violent crime), and to maintain the law—and respect for rule of law—under which the social group is governed.[9][10][11][12][13] Punishment may be self-inflicted as with self-flagellation and mortification of the flesh in the religious setting, but is most often a form of social coercion.

The unpleasant imposition may include a fine,[14] penalty, or confinement, or be the removal or denial of something pleasant or desirable.[15] The individual may be a person, or even an animal. The authority may be either a group or a single person, and punishment may be carried out formally under a system of law or informally in other kinds of social settings such as within a family.[10] Negative or unpleasant impositions that are not authorized or that are administered without a breach of rules are not considered to be punishment as defined here.[12] The study and practice of the punishment of crimes, particularly as it applies to imprisonment, is called penology, or, often in modern texts, corrections; in this context, the punishment process is euphemistically called "correctional process".[16] Research into punishment often includes similar research into prevention.

Justifications for punishment include retribution,[17] deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. The last could include such measures as isolation, in order to prevent the wrongdoer's having contact with potential victims, or the removal of a hand in order to make theft more difficult.[18]

If only some of the conditions included in the definition of punishment are present, descriptions other than "punishment" may be considered more accurate. Inflicting something negative, or unpleasant, on a person or animal, without authority or not on the basis of a breach of rules is typically considered only revenge or spite rather than punishment.[12] In addition, the word "punishment" is used as a metaphor, as when a boxer experiences "punishment" during a fight. In other situations, breaking a rule may be rewarded, and so receiving such a reward naturally does not constitute punishment. Finally the condition of breaking (or breaching) the rules must be satisfied for consequences to be considered punishment.[12]

Punishments differ in their degree of severity, and may include sanctions such as reprimands, deprivations of privileges or liberty, fines, incarcerations,[19] ostracism, the infliction of pain,[20] amputation and the death penalty. Corporal punishment refers to punishments in which physical pain is intended to be inflicted upon the transgressor. Punishments may be judged as fair or unfair[21] in terms of their degree of reciprocity and proportionality[11] to the offense. Punishment can be an integral part of socialization, and punishing unwanted behavior is often part of a system of pedagogy or behavioral modification which also includes rewards.[22]

  1. ^ Edwards, Jonathan (1824), The salvation of all men strictly examined: and the endless punishment of those who die impenitent : argued and defended against the objections and reasonings of the late Rev. Doctor Chauncy, of Boston ; in his book entitled "The Salvation of all Men," &c, C. Ewer and T. Bedlington, 1824, p. 157
  2. ^ Bingham, Joseph (1712). "Volume 1 of A Scholastical History Of The Practice of the Church In Reference to the Administration of Baptism By Laymen". A Scholastical History of the Practice of the Church in Reference to the Administration of Baptism by Laymen. 1. Knaplock, 1712: 25.
  3. ^ Grotius, Hugo (1715). "H. Grotius of the Rights of War and Peace: In Three Volumes: in which are Explain'd the Laws and Claims of Nature and Nations, and the Principal Points that Relate Either to Publick Government, Or the Conduct of Private Life: Together with the Author's Own Notes: Done Into English..., Volume 2". H. Grotius of the Rights of War and Peace: In Three Volumes: In Which Are Explain'd the Laws and Claims of Nature and Nations, and the Principal Points That Relate Either to Publick Government, or the Conduct of Private Life: Together with the Author's Own Notes: Done into English by Several Hands: With the Addition of the Author's Life by the Translators: Dedicated to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Hugo Grotius. 2. D. Brown..., T. Ward..., and W. Meares, 1715: 524.
  4. ^ Casper, Johann Ludwig (1864). "A Handbook of the practice of forensic medicine v. 3 1864". A Handbook of the Practice of Forensic Medicine. 3. New Sydenham Society: 2.
  5. ^ J, Lubbock (1882). "Laws. In J. Lubbock". The Origin of Civilisation and the Primitive Condition of Man: Mental and Social Condition of Savages: 443–480. doi:10.1037/13470-010.
  6. ^ Lee Hansen, Marcus (1918). "Old Fort Snelling, 1819-1858". Mid-America Series. State Historical Society of Iowa, 1918: 124.
  7. ^ Gade, Christian B. N. (2020). "Is restorative justice punishment?". Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 38 (3): 127–155. doi:10.1002/crq.21293.
  8. ^ Navy Department, United States (1940). "Compilation of Court-martial Orders, 1916-1937, 1940-41". Compilation of Court-martial Orders, 1916-1937, 1940-41: 648.
  9. ^ Hugo, Adam Bedau (February 19, 2010). "Punishment, Crime and the State". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2010-08-04. The search for a precise definition of punishment that exercised some philosophers (for discussion and references see Scheid 1980) is likely to prove futile: but we can say that legal punishment involves the imposition of something that is intended to be burdensome or painful, on a supposed offender for a supposed crime, by a person or body who claims the authority to do so.
  10. ^ a b and violates the law or rules by which the group is governed. McAnany, Patrick D. (August 2010). "Punishment". Online. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2010-08-04. Punishment describes the imposition by some authority of a deprivation—usually painful—on a person who has violated a law, rule, or other norm. When the violation is of the criminal law of society there is a formal process of accusation and proof followed by imposition of a sentence by a designated official, usually a judge. Informally, any organized group—most typically the family, in rearing children—may punish perceived wrongdoers.
  11. ^ a b Hugo, Adam Bedau (February 19, 2010). "Theory of Punishment". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 2010-08-04. Punishment under law... is the authorized imposition of deprivations—of freedom or privacy or other goods to which the person otherwise has a right, or the imposition of special burdens—because the person has been found guilty of some criminal violation, typically (though not invariably) involving harm to the innocent. (The classical formulation, conspicuous in Hobbes, for example, defines punishment by reference to imposing pain rather than to deprivations.) This definition, although imperfect because of its brevity, does allow us to bring out several essential points.
  12. ^ a b c d Peters, Richard Stanley (1966). "Ethics and Education". British Journal of Educational Studies. 20 (3): 267–68. JSTOR 3120772. Punishment... involves the intentional infliction of pain or of something unpleasant on someone who has committed a breach of rules... by someone who is in authority, who has a right to act in this way. Otherwise, it would be impossible to distinguish 'punishment' from 'revenge'. People in authority can, of course, inflict pain on people at whim. But this would be called 'spite' unless it were inflicted as a consequence of a breach of rules on the part of the sufferer. Similarly a person in authority might give a person £5 as a consequence of his breaking a rule. But unless this were regarded as painful or at least unpleasant for the recipient it could not be counted as a case of 'punishment'. In other words at least three criteria of (i) intentional infliction of pain (ii) by someone in authority (iii) on a person as a consequence of a breach of rules on his part, must be satisfied if we are to call something a case of 'punishment'. There are, as is usual in such cases, examples that can be produced which do not satisfy all criteria. For instance there is a colloquialism which is used about boxers taking a lot of punishment from their opponents, in which only the first condition is present. But this is a metaphorical use which is peripheral to the central use of the term.

    In so far as the different 'theories' of punishment are answers to questions about the meaning of 'punishment', only the retributive theory is a possible one. There is no conceptual connection between 'punishment' and notions like those of 'deterrence', 'prevention' and 'reform'. For people can be punished without being prevented from repeating the offence, and without being made any better. It is also a further question whether they themselves or anyone else is deterred from committing the offence by punishment. But 'punishment' must involve 'retribution', for 'retribution' implies doing something to someone in return for what he has done.... Punishment, therefore, must be retributive—by definition.
  13. ^ Kleining, John (October 1972). "R.S. Peters on Punishment". British Journal of Educational Studies. 20 (3): 259–69. doi:10.1080/00071005.1972.9973352. JSTOR 3120772. Unpleasantness inflicted without authority is revenge, and if whimsical, is spite.... There is no conceptual connection between punishment, or deterrence, or reform, for people can be punished without being prevented from repeating the offence, and without being made better. And it is also a further question whether they themselves, or anyone else is deterred from committing the offence by punishment.
  14. ^ Amis, S. (1773). "Association for the Prosecution of Felons (WEST BROMWICH)". The British Library: 5. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ^ Duff, Anthony (2001). Punishment, Communication, and Community. Switzerland: Oxford University Press. pp. xiii.
  16. ^ Mary Stohr; Anthony Walsh; Craig Hemmens (2008). Corrections: A Text/Reader. Sage. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-4129-3773-3.
  17. ^ Congress. House. Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, United States. Committee on Financial Services. and Government Sponsored Enterprises (2003). H.R. 2179, the Securities Fraud Deterrence and Investor Restitution Act of 2003 Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises of the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress, First Session, June 5, 2003. Purdue University: Committee on Financial Services. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-16-070942-5.
  18. ^ McAnany, Patrick D. (August 2010). "Justification for punishment (Punishment)". Online. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2010-09-16. Because punishment is both painful and guilt producing, its application calls for a justification. In Western culture, four basic justifications have been given: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. The history of formal punitive systems is one of a gradual transition from familial and tribal authority to the authority of organized society. Although parents today retain much basic authority to discipline their children, physical beatings and other severe deprivations—once widely tolerated—may now be called child abuse
  19. ^ J.M.,K.M, P.H., Darley, Catsman, Robinson (2000). "Incapacitation and just deserts as motives for punishment". Law and Human Behavior. 24 (6): 659–683. doi:10.1023/A:1005552203727. PMID 11105478.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ M., A, Frankenhaeuser, Rissler (1970). "Effects of punishment on catecholamine release and efficiency of performance". Psychopharmacologia. 17 (5): 378–390. doi:10.1007/BF00403809. PMID 5522998. S2CID 9187358.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ C., Mungan, Murat (2019). "Salience and the severity versus the certainty of punishment". International Review of Law and Economics. 57: 95–100. doi:10.1016/j.irle.2019.01.002. S2CID 147798726.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ Diana Kendall (2009). Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials (7th revised ed.). Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-0-495-59862-6.