The essence of a punishment implies the use of legal action against the person in response to wrong behavior. The punishment can be used to form socially acceptable patterns of social behavior. Nowadays the theory of criminal law presents various penalties classification because “conviction is not generally considered sufficient punishment in itself” (Becker, 1974, p.2). The criminal law provides different types of sentences based on their comparative severity that includes isolation from society, fine and corrective labor.
The most important form of punishment is an arrest that implies strict isolation from society. During the arrest, the convicted person cannot have dates. However the convicted person can have meetings with people who provides legal assistance to him. If during the probation a convicted person avoids control and execution of his duties, probation may be changed. If persons sentenced to isolation are in custody, they are released from the detention center after the sentence comes into force. Prisoners are kept in locked dormitories or in solitary confinement.
Other punishment is a fine. The fine is a sanction for failure to perform statutory or a contract obligations. This kind of punishment has a direct or indirect economic impact, since it can lead to loss of potential benefits and privileges established for persons with military, special and honorary titles and state awards. The fine is applied to officials or to certain kinds of trade workers. Fine has psychological effects on the convicted person. Fine involves significant financial implications that make unprofitable and dangerous to the offender committing criminal acts. Amount of the fine determined by the court takes into account the seriousness of the offense and the property of the convicted person and his family. Also, the court takes into account the possibility of getting convicted of wages or other income. In addition, a fine may be imposed in punishment replacement procedure less strict, or simultaneously with the other kind of punishment. The judges have the right to reduce the amount of the fine, if the penalty is not proportionate to the consequences of delay in payment. Mainly fine imposed for crimes small and medium severity, with those that are of the nature of the property. It should be noted that the minimum and maximum size of the fines is not limited by law, but may be limited by contract.
The penalties associated with the availability of corrective labor include compulsory labor, corrective labor, restriction of freedom, imprisonment for a specified period. Corrective labor is a form of criminal punishment associated with the involvement of convicts into paid work. During corrective labor the convicted person gives a certain sum of money from his wages to the state. Penalties associated with correctional labor can be applied in cases when the objectives of correcting commission can be achieved without the use of a more severe form of punishment. This form of punishment associated with the restriction of certain rights of the convicted person. The punishment can lead to the implementation of a special kind of pedagogical, educational influence. Punitive properties of this punishment manifested in the moral effects on the convicted person because “punishment opportunities are socially beneficial only if complemented by strong social norms of cooperation” (Herrmann, Thöni, Gächter, 2008, p.1362).
The classification of criminal penalties is the basis, which affect the formulation of the rules of criminal law of various institutions, such as the imposition of punishment, release from criminal punishment, probation, criminal record, the correct preparation of the sanctions for the commission of specific offenses. These functions are always provided as a single unit on formal legal grounds because criminal liability should be directed to the correction of the offender. It allows the courts differentiated and individual approach to the appointment of criminal penalties, depending on the nature and degree of social danger of the crime.
References
Becker, G. S. (1974). Crime and punishment: An economic approach. In Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment. NBER, 1-54. Retrieved March 03, 2016 from http://www.nber.org/books/beck74-1
Herrmann, B., Thöni, C., & Gächter, S. (2008). Antisocial punishment across societies. Science, 319(5868), 1362-1367. Retrieved March 02, 2016, from http://science.sciencemag.org/content/319/5868/1362.short
