Utilitarian Forms Of Punishment

Punishment can be justified through its six utilitarian forms. Individuals may as for the lawfulness of a law in a state’s jurisdiction, however nobody tends to seek the validation of the state’s legal system. It is common to look at a law and seek to find whether it is reasonable, but not to request whether law in general is reasonable. After all law and punishment has been ruling societies since the emergence of non-state societies (Watson Sept 16). This is similar to the case of punishment where overall it does not require any defense. It is regarded as usual for an action to have a reaction, for every criminal offense to have a punishment. In a criminal law perspective, punishment is regarded as a form of retaliation for the actions of the criminal. From a Utilitarian point of view, the suffering inflicted upon the criminal is justifiable on the grounds with the certainty that more happiness is created than suffering. Utilitarian’s are in support of an act that is most capable of creating a greater balance of happiness over unhappiness. From the variety of utilitarian justifications of punishment, retribution is the most …show more content…
The objective goal of specific deterrence is to persuade the individual who committed the crime from breaking the law in the future again. Two factors generally determine the effectiveness of the deterrence. The first is the severity of the punishment and the second is the certainty of the punishment. Individual offenders might be deterred from reoffending by the experience of punishment that was directly or indirectly inflicted upon them. An issue with specific deterrence is seen when individuals are repeat offenders (Lacey 1994: page 33). This makes a strong case that specific deterrence is a weak form of punishment, as whatever punishment being offered to the repeat offender is not enough to