theories of punishment
The deterrent theory punishes to discourage the offender and others from committing crimes. The retributive theory says the offender deserves to suffer in proportion to the wrong. The preventive theory disables the offender from repeating the crime (imprisonment, death). The reformative theory treats crime as a social or personal failing and aims to rehabilitate the offender (probation, parole, open prisons). The expiatory theory sees punishment as atonement.
Indian law combines them: the BNS keeps deterrent and preventive punishments, while the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, juvenile justice law and the new punishment of community service reflect the reformative theory. Courts consider reformation when deciding on death sentences (Bachan Singh).
Example
Releasing a first offender on probation reflects the reformative rather than the deterrent of the theories of punishment.
In Indian law
- Section 4, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (punishments, including community service); Probation of Offenders Act, 1958
See also
punishment · probation · restorative justice · sentence
Read more in the study notes
- Theories of punishment (Jurisprudence)
- The problem of punishment: State force against citizens, kinds and theories of punishment (Political Science - State and Political Obligations)
- Punishments under the BNS, including community service (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
- Duty, obligation and liability, and the sources from which they arise (Legal Concepts)
- Notion of punishment in law: meaning, history and purpose (Penology and Victimology)
- Schools of criminology and their penal policies (Penology and Victimology)