Theories of Punishment and Sentencing - Assignment Example

The neoclassical theorists believe that the level and severity of punishment for a culprit should be based upon the level of guilt of the person.... Rather than sentencing them to death, we should instead make them wish that they were dead already.... Under this school of thought, a criminal is believed to have a mindset that tells him that his criminal behavior will be more acceptable provided that rewards he will be getting from his criminal act will be far greater than the punishment that he will be getting once he is caught in the act of committing the crime....

The just desert theory is a practical concept that says that a punishment is needed to preserve the social equity disturbed by crime; however, the level of punishment should be fitting with the crime.... When there are established criminal justice punishments in society and people know the degrees of punishment they will have to suffer if they committed any wrong deeds, people tend to think before doing anything.... The paper "The Just Desert Theory and Other Views on Punishments" speaks of a balanced application of The just desert theory and other concepts of criminal justice for punishment that is adequate to the crime committed, regardless of origin and social status of the criminal....

Instead of acting as a deterrent to preventing future criminal activity sentencing is merely a punishment and has nothing to do with deterring crime; rather its effectiveness as a specific deterrent only lasts as long as the prison sentence itself.... Behind every criminal justice system, regardless of the cultural or political status of the state, there has been the evolving controversy between retribution and the utilitarian models of punishment.... In his explanation of the phenomenon of punishment Feinberg states:Punishment is a conventional device for the expression of attitudes of resentment and indignation, and of judgments of disapproval and reprobation, on the part either of the punishing authority himself or of those 'in whose name' the punishment is inflicted....

Over the decades, the concept of punishment and its practical application has drawn the attention of the people around the globe.... Jurists have rigorously approached to undertake the reform initiatives for the existing mechanism of punishment and rehabilitate the offenders in the society giving them back the opportunity o lead a sound life alike other people of the society … The modern theory of punishment was developed by the analytical school of Anglo-American thought decades ago....

The rational criminal will be significantly deterred by the fear of punishment and the realization that criminal activity could prove to be a costly affair.... The difficulties envisaged by this group of strategies are that the offender may not fear punishment and the fact that the risk of being apprehended and punished is not very great (Siegel & Welsh 79).... These strategies entail, aggressive policing, and compulsory sentencing.... This theory recommends punishment that is swift, severe, and certain....

From these statistics, the ineffectiveness of the current state of punishment for the offense of child molestation is quite evident.... This imparts the need for a radical change in the policy of punishment for the child molesters.... The current policy that provides the child molesters with an opportunity to be released from punishment after some time is totally unacceptable because harming a child is a heinous crime for which the offender must not be provided with an opportunity of rehabilitation....

hellip; This essay analyzes that there are also many theories such as the just deserts, rehabilitation, incapacitation, that also try to justify the use of punishment in modern society.... There are also other theories such as the just deserts, rehabilitation, incapacitation, that also try to justify the use of punishment in modern society.... Determinate and Indeterminate sentencing dictates the range of punishment that a judge can mete out....

Based on these theories the criminal justice system and the policymakers create punishment and rehabilitation policies while focusing on the causes of crime to target and reduce those causes in order to deter crime in the future.... This means that policymakers targeted the element of punishment in order to reduce the crime rate.... With this theory, the policymakers realized that if the punishments allotted to criminals are severe such as capital punishment, individuals who are planning to commit a crime will be deterred from indulging in deviant acts....