Retribution
Retribution is a penalty enforced on a criminal for an offence. It is designed to provide some form of compensation to the victim while at the same time punishing the offender (Johnston, 2007). The idea behind retribution is not to rehabilitate the offender but also to make them pay for the wrong committed.
The appropriate type of sentence is fines.
The rationale behind it is that once a criminal is punished, even if an offender is really sorry for the wrong committed and has assured people that he has changed and will never repeat the mistake, punishing them will make them feel the consequences of their actions and will not be likely to repeat the mistakes.
Advantages
- Societal rules will be upheld since people will not freely violate them.
- Provides defense from extra or disparate sentence (McReynolds, 2002).
Disadvantages:
- It nullifies the spirit of forgiveness.
- Criminals will be in a continuous state of punishment even after abandoning crime.
The control strategy that should be used under this goal is to define the time period in which the criminal can still be punished.
Deterrence
It is the use of punishment as a threat to deter individuals from committing mistakes (McReynolds, 2002). The rationale behind it is that offering severe punishment will make people to fear committing similar crimes in future.
The suitable kind of sentence is capital punishment. It is a severe form of punishment that many people are scared of.
Advantages
- Reduce the reoccurrence of crimes
- If used, it grants a party a dominant aggressive capability (Johnston, 2007).
Disadvantages
- Violates the principles of democracy in the modern era where many nations are highly democratic
- It creates implants unnecessary fear on innocent individuals (McReynolds, 2002).
A combination of faith-based practices and societal morals can be used to control crime deter people from crime.
Rehabilitation
Is a correctional goal in which the offender is restored to good behavior or condition. The rationale is that punishment is to be imposed on an offender to reform them so as to make their integration into the society easier.
The appropriate forms of punishment are probation orders and community service.
Advantages
- Offenders contribute to improvement of their lives as well as that of the society.
- It minimizes recidivism (Maine, 2012).
Disadvantage
- May not offer punishment that is proportional to the offence committed.
- Crimes might increase due to gentleness of the punishment.
The best crime control strategy is to determine individuals who are likely to be crimes and put them under faith-based programs that will discourage them from being attracted to crimes.
Incapacitation
It refers to preventing crimes by keeping offenders away from the society. The justification is that once the offender is not in the society and is kept in a secluded place, they will be deprived of their ability to commit crimes and the society will live in peace (Johnston, 2007).
Incarceration is the proper type of sentence.
Advantages
- Society lives peacefully since offender is away.
- Offenders who commit the same crime are treated equally (Maine, 2012).
Disadvantages
- Deep bitterness that many inmates find it hard to fit into the society once released.
- Removing offenders from the society will psychologically torment their loved ones.
Restorative justice
Under restorative justice, instead of imposing a tough punishment on the offender, the harm revealed or caused by criminal behavior is amended involving all the various stakeholders who are affected by the crime. The reasoning behind it is that a crime is an offense against an individual and not the state hence victim and offender should reconcile on the best method to resolve it.
Community service and Restitution are the best types of sentence under restorative justice.
Advantages
- Reduction in the amount of money used in seeking for justice.
- Enhances mutual understanding.
Disadvantages
- Offenders will be exposed to vengeful victims who might harm them (Maine, 2012).
- In the restorative process, offenders have nothing to loose and may therefore easily engage in similar crimes in future.
References
Johnston, N. B., In Savitz, L. D., & In Wolfgang, M. E. (2007). The sociology of punishment and correction. New York: J. Wiley.
Maine, gov (2012, February 19). Corrections: Goals. Retrieved October 22, 2013, from http://www.state.me.us/corrections/PublicInterest/goals.htm
McReynolds, K. L. (2002). Physical components of correctional goals. Ottawa: Solicitor General of Canada.
