Methods of Punishment in History and Modernity

Study Notes

All societies use punishment for social control using imprisonment, economic, incapacitative and corporal sanctions.
The interesting question is the generalizability of punishment practices across countries and regions.

Modern systems focus on rehabilitation, restorative justice, and alternatives to incarceration.
These aim to reduce recidivism, enhance public safety, and promote social reintegration.
Prisons focus on rehabilitating criminals by providing education and vocational training.
The goals of modern punishment include rehabilitation, deterrence, and protection of society.

Probation is an alternative to prison, where offenders are supervised by probation officers.
Monetary fines are a common form of punishment for minor offences.
Rehabilitation Focus: prioritizes rehabilitation over retribution by using educational programs, vocational training, and counseling.
Restorative Justice emphasizes repairing the harm caused by crime through dialogue between victims, offenders, and the community.
Diversion Programs divert low-risk offenders away from traditional incarceration.
Probation and Parole: Probation allows for offenders to live in the community under supervision, while parole involves early release from prison under supervision.
Electronic Monitoring uses ankle bracelets to supervise offenders in the community.

Some basic problems involve definitional issues and data limitations.
Constitution, capacity, funding, and the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs offered are important factors to consider in systematic examination of punishment systems across countries.

Both historical and modern methods of punishment aim to prevent crime and maintain social order.

Historical punishment systems were effective in keeping order in societies with low crime rates.
Modern punishment systems aim to rehabilitate offenders and prevent them from committing future crimes.
The extent of effectiveness of modern punishment methods needs more research.

A 36-year-old man is found guilty of burglary and house breaking for the second time.
The case study asks the reader to consider what sentence they consider appropriate for such a case.

Botswana Prisons emphasize on re-socialization, combine punishment and rehabilitation, and have a low prison population in Africa.
American prisons are larger and centralized, focus on punishment and retribution, and have high levels of recidivism.
Scandinavian Prisons are small and decentralized, focus on rehabilitation and education, and have low levels of recidivism.

The UK has a similar range of punishments as the US, but is less severe and has a comparatively lower prison population.
The US has a range of punishments from community service to the death penalty, with more severe punishments, especially for drug offences.
Both the US and UK have some opposition to prison expansion.

More than 70% of the world’s countries are considered to have abolished the death penalty.
The death penalty is primarily found in the Middle East, North and South of Africa, Asia-Pacific, and some states in the United States.
Arguments favoring its use are likely to focus on deterrence, retribution, and religious doctrine.

Any sentence in which a person's body is subjected to physical pain.
Five countries that have the use of corporal punishment as a sentencing option are: Qatar, Swaziland, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Singapore.
Zimbabwe has the highest rate of incidents of corporal punishment (flogging or caning is most common).
Islamic law also prescribes corporal punishment.

There are various alternatives to prison that have shown to be successful in rehabilitating offenders.
Drug and Alcohol Rehab provides treatment for addiction and mental health issues that lead to criminal behaviour.