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Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal in response to an unwanted, disobedient or morally wrong behavior.

Contents

Etymology

The word is the abstract substantivation of the verb to punish, which is recorded in English since 1340, deriving from Old French puniss-, an extended form of the stem of punir "to punish," from Latin punire "inflict a penalty on, cause pain for some offense," earlier poenire, from poena "penalty, punishment".

Colloquial use of to punish for "to inflict heavy damage or loss" is first recorded in 1801, originally in boxing; for punishing as "hard-hitting" is from 1811.

Definitions

In common usage, the word "punishment" might be described as "an authorized imposition of deprivations — of freedom or privacy or other goods to which the person otherwise has a right, or the imposition of special burdens — because the person has been found guilty of some criminal violation, typically (though not invariably) involving harm to the innocent. " (according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP is a freely-accessible Online encyclopedia of Philosophy maintained by Stanford University.

The most common applications are in legal and similarly 'regulated' contexts, being the infliction of some kind of pain or loss upon a person for a misdeed, i. e. for transgressing a law or command (including prohibitions) given by some authority (such as an educator, employer or supervisor, public or private official).

In psychology

Main article: Punishment (psychology)

In the field of psychology punishment has a more restrictive and technical definition. In Operant conditioning, punishment is any change in a human or animal's surroundings that occurs after a given behavior or response which reduces the likelihood of that behavior Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and In this field, punishment is the reduction of a behavior via a stimulus which is applied ("positive punishment") or removed ("negative punishment"). Making an offending student lose recess or play privileges are examples of negative punishment, while extra chores or spanking are examples of positive punishment. Spanking is a form of Corporal punishment that generally consists of striking the Buttocks of a Child or Teenager, usually by the parents The definition requires that punishment is only determined after the fact by the reduction in behavior; if the offending behavior of the subject does not decrease then it is not considered punishment. There is some conflation of punishment and aversives, though an aversive that does not decrease behavior is not considered punishment. Conflation occurs when the identities of two or more individuals concepts or places sharing some characteristics of one another become confused until there seems to be only a single In Psychology, aversives are unpleasant stimuli which induce changes in Behavior through punishment; by applying an aversive immediately

Scope of application

Punishments are applied for various purposes, most generally, to encourage and enforce proper behavior as defined by society or family. Criminals are punished judicially, by fines, corporal punishment or custodial sentences such as prison; detainees risk further punishments for breaches of internal rules. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment FINE was created in 1998 and is an informal association of the four main Fair Trade networks F Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to Punish a person or change his/her behavior A custodial sentence is a judicial sentence imposing a punishment (and hence the resulting punishment itself consisting of mandatory custody of the convict either in prison A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of Children, pupils and other trainees may be punished by their educators or instructors (mainly parents, guardians, or teachers, tutors and coaches). CHILD syndrome (or congenital hemidysplasia with ichthyosiform erythroderma and limb defects) is a genetic disorder A parent is a Father or Mother; one who sires or gives A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty to care for the personal and Property interests of another person called a ward In Education, a teacher is one who helps Students or pupils often in a School, as well as in a Family, religious or Coach (baseball|Coach (basketball|Coach (ice hockeyIn Sports a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction instruction and training of the operations

Slaves, domestic and other servants used to be punishable by their masters. Employees can still be subject to a contractual form of fine or demotion. Most hierarchical organizations, such as military and police forces, or even churches, still apply quite rigid internal discipline, even with a judicial system of their own (court martial, canonical courts).

Punishment may also be applied on moral, especially religious, grounds, as in penance (which is voluntary) or imposed in a theocracy with a religious police (as in a strict Islamic state like Iran or under the Taliban) or (though not a true theocracy) by Inquisition. Penance is repentance of Sins as well as the proper name of the Catholic and Orthodox Christian Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession The Taliban ( طالبان, also anglicised as Taleban; translation "students" is a Sunni Islamist, predominately The term Inquisition can refer to any one of several institutions charged with trying and convicting heretics within the Roman Catholic Church and

History and rationale

The progress of civilization has resulted in a vast change alike in the theory and in the method of punishment. In primitive society punishment was left to the individuals wronged or their families, and was vindictive or retributive: in quantity and quality it would bear no special relation to the character or gravity of the offence.

Gradually there would arise the idea of proportionate punishment, of which the characteristic type is an eye for an eye. The phrase " an eye for an eye " ( עין תחת עין) is a quotation from in which a person who has taken the eye of another in a fight is instructed to give The second stage was punishment by individuals under the control of the state, or community; in the third stage, with the growth of law, the state took over the primitive function and provided itself with the machinery of justice for the maintenance of public order. Henceforward crimes are against the state, and the exaction of punishment by the wronged individual is illegal (compare Lynch Law). Lynching is an Extrajudicial punishment meted out by a mob Lynching an enumerated Felony in some states in the United States, is defined by some Even at this stage the vindictive or retributive character of punishment remains, but gradually, and specially after the humanist movement under thinkers like Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham, new theories begin to emerge. Beccaria redirects here This article is about the philosopher and politician Jeremy Bentham ( IPA: or) (15 February 1748&ndash6 June 1832 was an English Jurist, Philosopher, and legal and Social reformer Two chief trains of thought have combined in the condemnation of primitive theory and practice. On the one hand the retributive principle itself has been very largely superseded by the protective and the reformative; on the other punishments involving bodily pain have become objectionable to the general sense of society. Consequently corporal and even capital punishment occupy a far less prominent position, and tend everywhere to disappear. It began to be recognized also that stereotyped punishments, such as belong to penal codes, fail to take due account of the particular condition of an offence and the character and circumstances of the offender. A fixed fine, for example, operates very unequally on rich and poor.

Modern theories date from the 18th century, when the humanitarian movement began to teach the dignity of the individual and to emphasize his rationality and responsibility. The result was the reduction of punishment both in quantity and in severity, the improvement of the prison system, and the first attempts to study the psychology of crime and to distinguish between classes of criminals with a view to their improvement (see criminology, crime, juvenile delinquency). Schools of thought In the mid-18th century criminology arose as social philosophers gave thought to crime and concepts of law In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment Juvenile delinquency refers to criminal acts performed by juveniles Most Legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles such as

These latter problems are the province of criminal anthropology and criminal sociology, sciences so called because they view crime as the outcome of anthropological viz. social conditions. The law breaker is himself a product of social evolution and cannot be regarded as solely responsible for his disposition to transgress. Habitual crime is thus to be treated as a disease. Punishment can, therefore, be justified only insofar as it either protects society by removing temporarily or permanently one who has injured it, or acting as a deterrent, or aims at the moral regeneration of the criminal. Thus the retributive theory of punishment with its criterion of justice as an end in itself gives place to a theory which regards punishment solely as a means to an end, utilitarian or moral, according as the common advantage or the good of the criminal is sought.

Michel Foucault describes in detail the evolution of punishment from hanging, drawing and quartering of medieval times to the modern systems of fines and prisons. Michel Foucault ( (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984 was a French philosopher, Historian, Intellectual, Critic and Sociologist. To be hanged drawn and quartered was the penalty once ordained in England for the crime of High treason. FINE was created in 1998 and is an informal association of the four main Fair Trade networks F Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of He sees a trend in criminal punishment from vengeance by the King to a more practical, utilitarian concern for deterrence and rehabilitation. Deterrence is but a theory from behavioural psychology about preventing or controlling actions or behavior through fear of punishment or retribution. Penology (from the Latin poena, " Punishment " comprises Penitentiary Science: that concerned with the processes devised

A particularly harsh punishment is sometimes said to be draconian, after Draco, the lawgiver of the classical polis of Athens. Draco (ˈdreɪkoʊ from Greek, drákɔːn was the first legislator of ancient Athens, Greece, 7th century BC. But as the adjective Spartan still testifies, its wholly militarized rival Sparta was the harshest a state of law can be on its own citizens, e. g. crypteia (including flogging for being caught when stealing as ordered). Krypteia or crypteia in( Gr κρυπτεία / krupteía, from κρυπτός / kruptós, “hidden secret things” was a tradition involving

In operant conditioning, punishment is the presentation of a stimulus contingent on a response which results in a decrease in response strength (as evidenced by a decrease in the frequency of response). The effectiveness of punishment in suppressing the response depends on many factors, including the intensity of the stimulus and the consistency with which the stimulus is presented when the response occurs. In parenting, additional factors that increase the effectiveness of punishment include a verbal explanation of the reason for the punishment and a good relationship between the parent and the child.

Types of punishments

Punishment can be divided into Positive punishment (the application of an aversive stimulus, such as pain) and Negative punishment (the removal or denial of a desired object, condition, or aversive stimulus).

Criminal punishment

  • fines or loss of income
  • confiscation
  • demotion, suspension or expulsion (especially in a strict hierarchy, such as military or clergy)
  • restriction or loss of civic and other rights retribution is
  • community service
  • Whipping or caning with various implements and on various body parts
  • Marking via branding or mutilations such as amputation of a finger or arm. Flagellation is the act of whipping (Latin flagellum, "whip" the human body Caning is a Physical punishment (see that article for generalities and alternatives consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts" with Human branding is the process in which a mark usually a symbol or ornamental pattern is burned into the skin of a living person with the intention that the resulting scar makes it permanent Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma or Surgery.

For children

Examples of punishments imposed by educators (parents, guardians or teachers etc. ; traditions differ greatly in time, place and cultural sphere; some are considered illegal abuse in certain countries) include:

Non-corporal forms of punishments for children have come under criticism in recent times. Grounding is a common Punishment for Children or Teenagers in the US A privilege &mdashetymologically "private law" or law relating to a specific individual&mdashis a special Entitlement or immunity granted by a government House work is a specific work required to be done as a Duty or for a specific Fee, related to or used in the running of a Household. Arguments against non-violent modification of behavior include the issue of ethics, and whether one's will should be forced on children. Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life Positive parenting and Taking Children Seriously are non-punitive alternatives to modifying behavior. See also Parenting Child discipline is a topic that draws from a wide range of interested fields such as the Professional practice of behavior analysis, Taking Children Seriously, TCS, is a worldwide parenting movement and educational philosophy based upon the idea that it is possible and desirable to raise and educate children

Other

Many religious organizations apply semi-voluntary accepted punishments such as penance. Penance is repentance of Sins as well as the proper name of the Catholic and Orthodox Christian Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession

Possible reasons for punishment

See also: Criminal justice

There are many possible reasons that might be given to justify or explain why someone ought to be punished; here follows a broad outline of typical, possibly contradictory justifications. Criminal justice is the system of practices and organizations used by national and local governments directed at maintaining Social control, deterring


Rehabilitation

Main article: Rehabilitation (penology)

Some punishment includes work to reform and rehabilitate the wrongdoer so that they will not commit the offense again. Rehabilitation means To restore to useful life as through therapy and education or To restore to good condition operation or capacity. Rehabilitation means To restore to useful life as through therapy and education or To restore to good condition operation or capacity. This is distinguished from deterrence, in that the goal here is to change the offender's attitude to what they have done, and make them come to see that their behavior was wrong.

Incapacitation

Incapacitation is a justification of punishment that refers to when the offender’s ability to commit further offences is removed. This is a forward-looking justification of punishment that views the future reductions in re-offending as sufficient justification for the punishment. This can occur in one of two ways; the offender’s ability to commit crime can be physically removed, or the offender can be geographically removed.

The offender’s ability to commit crime can be physically removed in several ways. This can include cutting the hands off a thief, as well as other crude punishments. The castration of offenders is another punishment that can be justified by incapacitation, furthered by recent media coverage in Britain of the proposed chemical castration of sexual offenders. Incapacitation, in this sense, can include any number of punishments including taking away the driving license off a dangerous driver but can also include capital punishment.

Despite this, incapacitation is predominately thought of as incarceration. Imprisonment has the effect of confining prisoners, physically preventing them from committing crimes against those outside, i. e. protecting the community. Before the widespread use of imprisonment, banishment was used as a form of incapacitation. Nowadays courts have a flexible array of sentence options available to them that can restrict offender’s movements, and subsequently their ability to commit crime. Football hooligans can, for example, be required to attend centres during football matches.

Selective incapacitation is a modified form of incapacitation that rationalises the practice of giving only dangerous and persistent offenders long, and in some case indefinite, prison sentences. The approach adopts a utilitarian viewpoint that regards the protection, and subsequent happiness, of the majority as justification of giving excessive and indefinite prison sentences. There is, however, strong moral opposition to this concept.

Deterrence / Prevention

To act as a measure of prevention to those who are contemplating criminal activity.

Restoration

Main article: Restorative Justice

For minor offences, punishment may take the form of the offender "righting the wrong"; for example, a vandal might be made to clean up the mess he has made. Restorative Justice is commonly known as a Theory of criminal justice that focuses on crime as an act against another individual or community rather than the state

In more serious cases, punishment in the form of fines and compensation payments may also be considered a sort of "restoration".

Some libertarians argue that full restoration or restitution on an individualistic basis is all that is ever just, and that this is compatible with both retributivism and a utilitarian degree of deterrence. Libertarianism is a term used by a broad spectrum of political philosophies which prioritize individual Liberty and seek to minimize or even abolish the Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall Utility, that is its contribution to happiness [1]

Retribution

Main article: Retributive justice

Retribution is the practice of "getting even" with a wrongdoer — the suffering of the wrongdoer is seen as good in itself, even if it has no other benefits. Retributive justice is a Theory of Justice that considers that proportionate punishment is a morally acceptable response to Crime, with Retributive justice is a Theory of Justice that considers that proportionate punishment is a morally acceptable response to Crime, with One reason for societies to include this judicial element is to diminish the perceived need for street justice, blood revenge and vigilantism. A society is a Population of Humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive Culture and Institutions A vigilante is a person who ignores Due process of law and enacts their own form of Justice in response to a perception of insufficient response by the However, some argue that this is a "zero sum game", that such acts of street justice and blood revenge are not removed from society, but responsibility for carrying them out is merely transferred to the state.

Retribution sets an important standard on punishment — the transgressor must get what he deserves, but no more. Therefore, a thief put to death is not retribution; a murderer put to death is. Adam Smith, who is credited as the father of Capitalism, wrote extensively about punishment. Adam Smith ( baptised 16 June 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of Political economy. In his view, an important reason for punishment is not only deterrence, but also satisfying the resentment of the victim. Moreover, in the case of the death penalty, the retribution goes to the dead victim, not his family. (So, to extend Smith's views, a murderer can be spared the death penalty only by the victim's express wish, made when he was alive. ) One great difficulty of this approach is that of judging exactly what it is that the transgressor "deserves". For instance, it may be retribution to put a thief to death if he steals a family's only means of livelihood; conversely, mitigating circumstances may lead to the conclusion that the execution of a murderer is not retribution. Capital punishment of a Felon in the United States, in modern times is employed and in practice only in cases involving murder

A specific way to elaborate this concept in the very punishment is the mirror punishment (the more literal applications of "an eye for an eye"), a penal form of 'poetic justice' which reflects the nature or means of the crime in the means of (mainly corporal) punishment. A mirror punishment is a penal form of Poetic justice which reflects the nature or means of the crime in the means of (often physical punishment as a form of Retributive

Education

From German Criminal Law, Punishment can be explained by positive prevention theory to use criminal justice system to teach people what are the social norms for what is correct and acts as a reinforcement. It teaches people to obey the law and eliminates the free-rider principle of people not obeying the law getting away with it.

References

Dictionary

punishment

-noun

  1. The act of punishing.
  2. Penalty for wrongdoing, especially for crime.
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