...The Punishment Philosophy Clay Stake CJS/220 January 15, 2012 Tony Sanders The Punishment Philosophy After the conviction process has ended, the sentencing phase has five punishment philosophies the courts can impose. Deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, retribution, and restoration are all punishment philosophies that have the same goal to prevent crime. Judges impose sentences that fit the crime, but must be reasonable to the public and not violate the United States Constitution. Judges may also decide to impose sanctions like fines, probation, home confinement, or even the death penalty. Sentencing and sanctions can be used to rehabilitate criminals, deter crime, or even plea bargains. No matter what the philosophy or the sanction of the sentence, the result is that past behavior can be used to predict future behavior. The five punishment philosophies start with deterrence. Deterrence is a known penalty for crimes committed. For example, the three strikes law was imposed to deter criminals from committing crimes or face extended incarceration. Deterrence was designed to have certainty of a punishment, celerity or swiftness of that punishment, and the severity of the punishment. This philosophy is assuming that all people will consider the consequences of his or her actions before they act. This also means that people will learn from the punishment of the innocent. Incapacitation is the removal of criminals from society. Prisons are the most common...
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...Sebastian Chalackal and all other librarians for helping me in the collection of data for the completion of this work. Fro generously sharing their wisdom, love and time I pay gratitude to my entire batch mates of Dazzlers. Conveying my sincere thanks to all the members of Sevana social group I wind up. general introduction Human is a rational and social being. Society is an unavoidable factor for human being. There are a lot of things to keep as a social being to human. To maintain a good relationship with others, there are certain written and unwritten rules. The person who keeps this rules called ‘just man’. There are different faces to the concept ‘justice’. A brief study about the concept ‘justice’ is an important today. Many philosophers have tried to explain the concept ‘justice’ and its features. We can find a lot of features in personal justice. The meaning of justice may change according to the situations. But there should be a common factor; this common factor is the concept of ‘ethics’. In general justice and ethics are co-related. Today the study of justice includes anthropology, sociology,...
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...What is a Just Society? What is a Just Society? Feminist social philosophy: a group of women that are looking to have equal rights as men. They have tired over the years to only be able to be respected and shown how they are qualified and are just as capable to be treated equal. Feminist thinkers comparing the average of salaries they have learned that women earn about 75 cents for every dollar men earn. (Mitchell 428) When comparing the education of women to men, a women can have a college degree has and an earning power of a man with a high school diploma. It has been proven that women have been treated different only due to the fact that she is a woman. She it goes to show that even if she has the exact same specifications of a man. Yet we look at how the views of woman are seen through the eyes of society. Looking at the way the views of females are it is very one sided. When think of a the prostitute (but not her client), pregnant teenager (but not the baby's father), yet when the you hear of a young lady being rape the first thing that does come up in mind is not what he did but more how she put herself in this situation. A woman’s sexuality has been the topic of much review, where if a woman has multiple partners and she is given a different names that that of a man. Of course, any discussion of this type is complicated by racial factors too, but on average, women earn significantly less than men. (Mitchell 428) What she found was that she was different from Sartre...
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...Punishment and Sentencing Philosophies Punishment and Sentencing Philosophies Chandra Walker Axia Online-UOP Abstract In this paper we will discuss the various punishment and sentencing philosophies that are used within the criminal justice system. The process that is used to apply justice is determined for the most part by punishment philosophies. These philosophies are used to express a variety of different concerns and arguments regarding the use of appropriate sentencing and treatment. Rehabilitation is a philosophy that predominantly rues the juvenile justice court system, but do not carry as much weight and is widely scrutinized within the adult courts sector. Rehabilitation may be scrutinized in the juvenile justice court system when the criminal behavior of the juvenile continues to escalate, but when rehabilitation is successful then it can be both beneficial for the criminal and society. When the appeals process is exercised it provides the fair practice of law, ensures those at trial the rights of due process, and gives clarity and provides full understanding of justice and the law. Punishment and Sentencing Philosophies In any nation that strives for great democracy, the major concern is the guaranteed universality of justice. For the US this is an ongoing process that is pursued largely in the court systems on an ongoing basis. Many criminalists state that if it the general basis for an action to constitute a crime really...
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...of Justice 2 2. Analysis of Sen’s Idea of Justice 3 2.1. Theoretical Versus Practical Approach 3 2.2. Niti and Nyaya’s Model in Sen’s Framework of Justice 4 2.3 Capability Approach in Sen’s Theory of Justice 4 Conclusion 6 Bibliography 7 Abstract Amartya Kumar Sen’s thought on justice are groundbreaking in our pluralistic society. The question could be why? To my mind, Sen constructs theory of justice basing on the social injustices encountered due to structural and cultural backgrounds. He concentrates on the practical application of transcendental theories of justice in building a more just society based on enhancement of capabilities (real opportunities and freedoms). We can say a society that focuses on promotion of people’s freedom in the Sen’s framework moves towards achieving justice. Introduction Amartya Kumar Sen is a renown Indian economist, philosopher, developmental ethicist and a first Asian to receive a Nobel Prize in Economics. His book Idea of Justice and Development as Freedom have made a new paradigm shifting as regards welfare and wellbeing of individuals in the society. Sen propounds for a practical approach of justice that is concerned with eliminating forms of injustices in the society. It is here that Sen develops capability approach as an evaluative tool in the just society, whereby social justice addresses structural forms of discrimination. His thoughts on justice tend towards positive consequences of the theories of justice in enhancing...
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...Editorial Essay The Importance of Philosophy for Education in a Democratic Society Dale T. Snauwaert The University of Toledo Dale.snauwaert@utoledo.edu This essay explores the importance of philosophy for the study and practice of education in a democratic society. It will be argued that at its core education is a normative enterprise, in that it is driven by fundamental social values as well as the imperatives of social justice. These values and imperatives powerfully shape every dimension of educational theory, policy, and practice. From this perspective, education requires a normative frame of reference. Democracy, understood as not only a political system but more fundamentally as a way of life grounded in specific values and principles, provides a powerful point of reference. At the heart of democracy is the value of liberty, understood as self-determination. Self-determination requires that there should be careful reflection upon and rational deliberation concerning social values and, in turn, the imperatives of justice that inform the purposes and practices of education. It will be argued that philosophy constitutes a mode of inquiry and a discipline that enriches the capacity for reflection and rational deliberation, and hence it is essential for both democracy and the study and practice of education in a democratic society. Education as a Normative Enterprise There are a number of ways in which education is normative. While what follows is not an exhaustive...
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...citizen rather than being knowledgeable of proper rulership. Therefore, this government is capable of molding the perception and ideas of the citizens. According to Plato, democratic governance is a poor form of government due to the focus on self-interest rather than the welfare of society as a whole. In this essay, Plato’s background, views on politics will be presented first; then, his in-depth opinion of democracy and what he believed to be an ideal society. Plato wrote, in his autobiography Seventh Letter, that he could not identify himself with any political parties because they were heavily engage in corrupted activities. However, it was due to the execution of Socrates that provided Plato with the assurance that the existing governments were fallacious without any possible reparation. He perceived politics as unhealthy and wanted to achieve an eradication of politics. According to Plato, society can possibly be harmonious, productive, and obtain sustainable social living if liberated from politics. Through politics, citizens have a tendency to seek justice from elected officials and the government. In the Republic, Socrates had a discussion with other colleagues about a political theory for a just state. Let’s...
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...important theories in our criminal justice system today. In this essay we will look at the key elements, the history, the future and the modern application of Retribution in our society. Discussion of Retribution in Corrections Introduction The first theory that will be discussed is Retribution. Retribution is a form of punishment that is sometimes mistaken as revenge but is actually a legitimate punishment philosophy because it has three key elements that are; formal penal sanction, equity, and just deserts (Alarid, Pg.24). Retribution is the punishment given to an offender for a crime that is morally right and is fully deserved. The reason retribution really defers from revenge is the three elements above. The formal penal sanction of it is when a law has been broken and action is taken for the good of the public. The next element is equity; this is to make sure that people that commit the same crime get similar punishment and are treated the same. The final element of retribution is just deserts; this is to make sure that the punishment is proportional to the seriousness of the offense and the culpability of the offender. This is what retribution is and now we can look at the history of it. The history of Retribution can reach back a long way in our history. If you look at these words from the Old Testament it says, “An eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth”. This is the basic philosophy of retribution that is in our society today (Clear, Pg.66). This quote from...
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...Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy Essay Canada’s laws are a combination of many different philosophies about how to achieve justice. One of the most impactful philosophists are Plato because he believed that humans by nature are good which is a belief that Canada has adopted. Aristotle also believed in natural law and that everyone should have access to the same resources despite financial advantages or disadvantages similarly to Canada's beliefs. Lastly, Cicero greatly impacted Canadian law because he believed that justice comes from a reasonable person which is the basis of all Canadian laws. The three most impactful theorists on Canadian law are Plato, Aristotle and Cicero because they all believe...
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... There has been a great amount of change in the philosophy and practices of sentencing and corrections in the past 30 years. In the first seven decades there was a strong emphasis on rehabilitation that lasted until 1970’s. The focus on rehabilitation gave way to the focus on fairness and justice which was considered the “just deserts” model. Then the sentencing practices moved on toward a crime-control model which became extremely popular in the 1980s and 1990s. These changes lead to the sentencing practices that are used today and focus on four major goals; retribution this refers back to the just deserts model meaning that people who break the law deserve to be punished. The three other goals deterrence, incapacitation and those most favored one rehabilitation all of these have their own effective emphasizing methods used to protect the public. The get tough on crime perspective is where the sentencing stage is at currently this has caused an increase in prison populations. As the population and the population of minority groups in the justice system continue to grow it is likely that we will move toward a treatment orientation, and community corrections will be enhanced and expanded. Retribution is one of the first philosophies corrections followed. This model refers back to the just desserts model, basically that people who break the law deserved to be punished. This is based on the idea that society needs to take out its revenge on the offender for violating...
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...in all, Aristotle’s philosophy made an astounding influence. In fact, it is in Aristotle’s Philosophy that Alexander the Great, which the former tutored in 347 BCE, laid down the foundations of the latter’s empire. Throughout Alexander’s rule, the influence of Aristotle, his mentor, can be seen in the former’s skillful and diplomatic handling of difficult problems throughout his career. When Alexander became a king, he had set forth on a Persian expedition to expand his empire. Perhaps, it is the experience of the encounter between people’s that played a huge role in the development of the idea of cosmopolitanism, the idea that a man is a citizen of the world. “Aristotle's writings, like Plato's, have influenced virtually every avenue...
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...think that Utilitarianism provides the foundation for Justice and why does Rawls reject it? Introduction The concept of utilitarianism is one that has engulfed the philosophical arena with an obscene number of arguments that support and/or criticize it. Generally, utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics that defines an action as one that ensures maximum utility. Other schools of thought would like to put it as the concept of “maximizing happiness while reducing suffering” (Mills 3).In as much as utilitarianism has continued to receive applause from people and the political scene, other divergent scholars has come up with other theories that seek to compromise the philosophies under which the concept of utilitarianism operates. As a result, utilitarianism has become subject to contradictions from other theories in the field of ethics. The thinking class in other fields of utilitarianism characterizes in as a quantitative yet reductionist approach to ethics (Mills 3). Over time, the concept of utilitarianism has received ideological threats from; deontological ethics which does not assign moral worth to an action based on its consequences, virtue ethics that solely deals with action and habits that results to happiness, pragmatic ethics and other forms of ethics that backs the idea of consequentialism. In a nut shell, the concept of utilitarianism as defined by political philosophers and in relation to justice is becoming a “battlefield” where the philosophical bigwigs...
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...According to Phelps (1987), Distributive justice concerns the nature of a socially just distribution of goods in a society. A society where related inequalities in outcome do not surface would be considered a society guided by the principles of distributive justice. The concept includes the available quantities of goods, the process by which goods are to be distributed, and the resulting distribution of the goods to the members of the society. Distributive justice concentrates on outcomes. (Phelps, 1987) Distribution in economics refers to the way total output, income, or wealth is distributed among individuals or among the factors of production. Factors included in this are labor, land, and capital (Atkins, Bourguignin, ed., 2000). In general theory and the national income and product accounts, each unit of output corresponds to a unit of income. One use of national accounts is for classifying factor incomes and measuring their individual shares, as in National Income (Atkins, Bourguignin, ed., 2000). But, where focus is on income of persons or households, adjustments to the national accounts or other data sources are frequently used. Here, interest is often on the fraction of income on the factors that might affect them such as, globalization, tax policy, technology, etc.. (Atkins, Bourguignin, ed., 2000) Governments continuously make and change laws affecting the distribution of economic benefits and goods in their societies. Almost all changes, from the standard tax...
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...University of Sharjah International Relations Political Theory Ideas on States and Justice in the thought of Augustine and Rousseau Essay Assignment By: May Ramez Mahrat Supervised by: Dr. Jeremy Kleidosty Arguments and philosophical explanations for what justifies power and states, inspired by the European Enlightenment thought, has headed closer toward reasoning and further from faith. The thought of Rousseau and Saint Augustine is a clear representation of the two poles of reason and faith in political thought. Rousseau, outlining the basis of his social contract on the natural goodness of human beings and putting sovereignty in the hand s of people, differs widely from Augustine who addresses the state as an “essential evil” put to discipline men who are sinners by nature. The political arguments of these two philosophers, who lived in two different ages, represent a different kind of Enlightenment for the both ages that they lived in. This essay will discuss Rousseau’s and Augustine’s regards to state, justice and property and will examine the effects of their thoughts on modern politics. Augustine and Rousseau in Comparison Wrapping his political and social beliefs with virtuous, deist and theological Christian discourse, Augustine, the Christian bishop, presents a leap in the Western thought at a time close to the beginning of the middle ages. His political views in his writings are interpreted differently by various scholars as he rarely expresses direct...
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...Vlastos, Gregory. “Was Plato a Feminist?”, Times Literary Supplement What are some of the major contributions of Plato, Socrates and Aristotle? Why do you think we still focus on their ideas today (in philosophy classes)? Please support your information with references and explain their ideas in "plain English" rather than using phrases from Wikipedia or elsewhere those don't really explain what the ideas mean. Three Athenian philosophers flourish in Greece from 470 B. C. until 320 B. C. These philosophers were famous for their "schools of thought." The first Socrates he didn't leave his writing behind, he explained his way of thinking, and people learned that from the people whom he taught. His method of instruction called the Socratic is being used still today in this method, the teacher allows students to use their own deductive reasoning to see things for themselves through a series of questions and answers. You than had the people that didn't believe in is method, they felt that he was not setting a good example for the kids. Then he was sentenced to death. Plata was one of Socrates student and he established a second school. He believed that a higher world of unchanging forms and ideas existed. If a person knew these forms, then he knew the truth. The third school of thought was that of Aristotle. He felt that form and matter were one, not two separate concepts. The philosophy that has interest me is the Aristotle's ideal on friends. He believed that there are...
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