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Well, punishment is given various rationales. First, and foremost, I think, is retribution: one should pay for egregious misbehavior. Second, the state takes over responsibility for determining guilt and punishing the wrong- doer to preempt the private search for revenge. Third, there is the idea of the penitentiary: the prisoner is meant to have the seriousness of his behavior brought home to him, and one hopes that he will repent and purify himself. Fourth, there is the idea of rehabilitation, which is predicated upon the hope that the prisoner will seek to amend his life. Fifth, there is the idea of deterrence, for others might be dissuaded from wrong doing by being impressed with the weight of justice. There is, then, room in there for victim's rights, since we want to discourage vigilantism............ |
