Proponents of the theory of deterrence believe that people make their choice on the matter of obeying the law or violating it after considering the outcome of their actions. They believe that an individual makes a choice whether to commit a criminal offence or not after meticulously evaluating the punishment and the gain of their actions. However, this proponent has been criticized basing on the fact that only the offenders end up being deterred hence we have no explanation as to why other people choose not to offend (Homel, 2012).
General deterrence can be explained as the effect created a threat of punishment to the public towards illegal actions. The purpose of general deterrence is designed to prevent the instances of illegal actions by the public. By creating punishment to illegal actions, the public tend to fear committing those crimes thereby preventing the crime. The general deterrence is meant to create horror among the public so as to make them shy away from doing such crime (Homel, 2012). For example, the legislative system creates provisions for death sentences among the corporal offenders; as a result, people will fear committing corporal crime for the fear of death. Since general deterrence was meant to instill fear and horror among the non-offenders, most governments used to carry corporal punishments in public.
Specific deterrence, on the other hand, is the actual punishment an offender gets after committing an offence. Specific deterrence focuses only on the actual offenders. The actual offenders are punished so that they don’t commit the same offence again in future. Proponents of specific deterrence believe that an individual has been punished repeatedly for the same act; they tend to fear committing that offence again. For example, when an individual is found driving while drunk, they punishment they get may include arrest, losing their license or getting their car impounded. For the fear of these punishments in the future, the person will tend not to commit the same crime. The state must create a punishment so painful that will offset the pleasure one obtains from drinking (Homel, 2012).
Reference
Homel, R. (2012). Policing and punishing the drinking driver: a study of general and specific deterrence. Springer Science & Business Media.
