This document discusses the history and theories of punishment from ancient times through the American Revolution. It covers early legal codes from Mesopotamia and Rome. During the Enlightenment, thinkers like Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham promoted the classical school of thought that punishment should be rational, consistent with the crime, and aimed at deterrence and prevention over retribution. Modern approaches to punishment include restorative justice and consideration of scientific evidence. Common criminal sanctions today include incarceration, fines, probation, and in some cases, the death penalty. Judges consider many factors in sentencing, but their discretion can also lead to unwarranted disparities.

1. The Punishment
of Offenders
Chapter 2

2. Punishment from the Middles Ages to
the American Revolution
 Middle Ages to the American Revolution
 Sumerian Law of Mesopotamia
 Code of Hammurabi
 Draconian Code
 Law of the Twelve Tables
 Justinian Code
Lex talionis

3. Discussion Question
What if... the idea of Lex Talionis was the way of
the land? You kill my wife, I kill your wife!
Would crime decrease? What if every member
of society were given 5 murders, similar to a
frequent murder card…would this decrease
murders knowing that if I murder you, a family
member of yours could easily and legally
murder me?

4. Punishment from the Middles Ages to
the American Revolution
 The Age of Reason and Correctional Reform
 Enlightenment
 Liberalism, rationality, equality, individualism
dominated social and political thinking
 Punishment
 Correction

5. Punishment from the Middles Ages to
the American Revolution
 Cesare Beccaria and the Classical School
 Utility
 Rational link between crime and punishment
 Six principles created

6. Punishment from the Middles Ages
to the American Revolution
 Six Principles of Cesare Beccaria:
 Greatest good for the greatness number of people
 Crime is an injury to society
 Prevention of crime
 Accused have rights
 Deterrence as punishment
 Imprisonment

7. Punishment from the Middles Ages to
the American Revolution
 Jeremy Bentham
 “Hedonic Calculus”
 Utilitarianism
 Deterrence
 Prevention
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8. What is punishment?
 Punishment is marked by 3 elements:
 An offense
 Infliction of pain because of the offense
 Purpose is not to compensate someone injured by
the offense nor better offender’s condition but to
prevent further prevent offenses

9. The Purpose of Corrections
 Retribution
 Deserved punishment
 “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”
 Basic human emotion
 Helps society uphold standards
 Pay their debt to society
 “Just desserts”

10. The Purpose of Corrections
 Deterrence
 General deterrence
 Specific deterrence
 Assumes people think rationally
 To be effective must be perceived as…
 Fast
 Certain
 Severe

11. The Purpose of Corrections
 Incapacitation
 Eliminate offender’s ability to commit further
crimes
 Imprisonment
 Execution
 Selective incapacitation
 “Lock ‘em up and throw away the key”

12. The Purpose of Corrections
 Rehabilitation
 Goal of restoring the convicted offender to society
 Vocational/educational therapy or therapy
 Focus on the offender
 Inconsistent relationship between crime and sentence
 Should not set a fixed sentence

13. Discussion Question
Which goal of corrections is most effective?
Why?

14. The Purpose of Corrections
 New Approaches to Punishment
 Restorative justice
 Offender
 Victim
 Community
 Scientific evidence

15. Criminal Sanctions: A Mixed Bag?

16. Forms of the Criminal Sanction

17. Forms of the Criminal Sanction

18. Forms of the Criminal Sanction
 Incarceration– nearly 7 million men and women
in the US currently under correctional supervision
 Indeterminate sentences
 Determinate sentences
 Presumptive sentences
 Mandatory sentences

19. Discussion Question
What should the sentencing method of choice
be for American corrections? Is one of the
three methods more effective than the
others? What appears to be the method of
choice currently in the United States?

20. Forms of the Criminal Sanction
 Intermediate Sanctions
 Monetary sanctions
 Fines
 Restitution
 Forfeiture
 Home confinement
 Intensive supervision probation

21. Forms of the Criminal Sanction
 Probation
 Most frequent criminal sanction in the
United States
 Community supervision
 Drug tests, curfews, job
 Shock probation

22. Forms of the Criminal Sanction
 Death
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23. Discussion Question
What if the death penalty was repealed and
become unconstitutional throughout the
United States? Do you believe that this would
lead to an increase in violent criminality? Why
or why not?

24. Forms of the Criminal Sanction
 Forms and Goals of Sanctions
 “Invisible punishments”
 Denying felons the right to vote
 Allowing termination of parental rights
 Establishing felony conviction as grounds for
divorce
 Restricting access to certain occupations
 Barring felons from public welfare programs and
benefits

25. The Sentencing Process
 Factors influencing Judicial Discretion
 The Attitudes of the Judge
 Blameworthiness, protecting the community,
practical implications of sentence
 Administrative context
 Misdemeanor, felonies

26. Discussion Question
Discuss the pressures judges face when
sentencing criminals. Do any of these appear
unethical?

27. The Sentencing Process
 The Presentence Report
 Background
 Criminal record
 Job status
 Mental health

28. The Sentencing Process
 Sentencing Guidelines
 Federal and state
 Goals
 Reduce disparity in sentencing
 Increase/decrease punishment for certain
offenses/offenders
 Reduce prison overcrowding
 Truth-in-sentencing
 Sentencing process more rational

29. Unjust Punishment
 Sentencing Disparity
 Different punishments for similar crimes
 Race
 Ethnicity
 Class
 Gender

30. Unjust Punishment
 Wrongful Conviction
 DNA technology
 Eyewitness testimony
 Unethical conduct
 Community pressure
 False accusations
 Inadequate counsel
 Plea-bargaining pressures