Just as a wild animal cannot be left to roam about in the city so is a criminal restrained from mixing up with other people in the fear that they would be exposing them to danger. Although crime is unavoidable in our societies, the judicial system has put measures to try and control it. One of the ways they achieve this is through deterrence. Deterrence is the punishment imposed on an a given individual with an intended purpose of making the punishment serve as an example to the criminal and also to the public at large. The crimes that are being committed nowadays are at scaring levels, especially those committed by juveniles. If a child begins to commit criminal activities at their tender ages, one wonders what would happened when they get to eighteen years of age. The Juvenile criminals that am talking about are the ones that would get into a supermarket and take a pack of bubblegum but the ones who are fully engaged in very violent criminal activities. The questions that one asks themselves is, why do some of the juveniles engage in criminal activities while others do not? There exist many theories and explanations to this question but the ones that stands out are general deterrence and specific deterrence.
General deterrence
General deterrence is a concept that states that, the choice to commit any criminal activities can be controlled through a threat of punishment. This statement seeks to explain that the thoughts by an individual that there would be grave consequences because of their delinquent actions that goes against the law can make them avoid their intended criminal activity. General deterrence will be greater if the delinquent activities committed receive the strictest punishment. General deterrence works best when there are certain laid down guidelines that have to be adhered to. However, at times, subjecting an individual to severe punishment with an objective of curbing crime might not be the best way to go about it. One should strive to identify the under laying reasons that led the person to committing the said criminal activity. For instance, If a juvenile is in a group of other children who decides to engage in crime, for example, stealing, the juvenile with all his innocence might be tempted to also join his friends and also commit the act. Peer pressure could be attributed to this act by the juvenile. Therefore, the type of deterrence that would persuade others not involve themselves in crime is the general deterrence.
Specific deterrence
This type of deterrence is more specific, unlike general deterrence that is concerned about the effect of the punishment on others; the specific deterrence is more concerned about the individual only. This form of deterrence persuades an individual before a court of law not to commit further offences in the future. If a young person is punished severely, that experience makes them to avoid similar mistakes and illegal acts in the future. Engaging in crime, be convicted in a court of law and being sent to jail is one of the best examples of specific deterrence. When out of jail, the individual would tend to avoid the activities that led them to that situation. However, some research shows that some people are not likely to abandon crime because of the jail term.
After going through the two types of deterrence, it is evident that most of the crimes committed as are as a result of where one lives and their general upbringing. Some of the individuals are spoilt when still they are juveniles. However, with the two types of deterrence’s in check, most of the criminal activities would be contained.
References
Ferries,T (2012), Specific deterrence definition, http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/S/SpecificDeterrence.aspx Retrieved March 29,2013
Shanon ,A, (2009), general deterrence vs specific deterrence, http://voices.yahoo.com/general-deterrence-vs-specific-deterrence-4097797.html?cat=17 Retrieved, March 29, 2013.
