Justification Of Punishment Utilitarianism

In our criminal justice system, a person is not punished merely for the sake of being punished. For starters, there is typically something that the individual has done to deserve punishment. While the goal of punishing that person for something he or she has done that society deems is wrong is fine, there is typically some other force at work as well.

In justifying punishment, there are two broad categories of justification for punishment. One looks forward towards deterrence while the other looks backwards to what the individual has done to deserve punishment in the first place. Societies have typically adopted one view or the other. Both move through trends and phases where they have been the most popular form of justification for punishment.

The type of punishment that looks forward towards deterring others from committing a crime is utilitarianism. The goal of deterrence has two arms to it. The first is specific deterrence. In this type of deterrence, it is hoped that while a person is being punished (i.e. in jail), he or she will refrain from committing any crimes because he or she cannot or because he or she does not want to because punishment is so awful. General deterrence is the other arm of deterrence. This type of deterrence seeks to prevent other individuals in society from committing the same crime. It is basically a way of using an individual who has done something, been caught, and imprisoned as an example of sorts to the rest of the community.

Utilitarianism does not deem punishment as necessary if the crime committed is less than the punishment that would be inflicted. Also, if the individual has already repented and reformed him or herself and is now leading an upstanding life, punishing the individual for something that happened 20 years ago is not justified. The harm done to the individual has a greater value than the crime that was committed twenty years ago.

Utilitarianism was the more popular form of punishment in the United States in the early part of the 20th century. During this period, there was an increased emphasis on reforming individuals who committed crimes. It was more popular to get a person treatment for whatever caused him or her to commit the crime than it was to toss a person in jail and throw away the key. For example, if a drug addiction caused the individual to be steal, then a court might send the person to rehab rather than issue a jail sentence.

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