POLS 354 Lecture 2:
Document Summary
Retribution - the more senseless and heinous the crime, the more we turn to retribution. The argument that retribution for retribution sake and only that, it doesn"t actually solve anything. It"s an emotional and moral action; comes from eye from an eye ancient ideas. Special/specific - we take a criminal, punish them, and the goal is to convince that person not to commit crimes in the future. General - we take a criminal, punish them, using that person as an example to the rest of society. Often there will be changes in deterrence patterns over time when one strategy/punishment doesn"t seem to be working. We know when it doesn"t work but we don"t know when it does work. Factors that make deterrence more or less effective. If you increase police presence, it reduces odds of crime. But it can just move where the crime goes. Doesn"t work on people not thinking straight.
