Justification of Punishment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Justification of Punishment - Essay Example This research will adamantly define the facts surrounding punishment. It is already generally conceptualized that without a reliable way to punish offenders crime would escalate to uncontrollable proportions. This is just one of the reasons for the use of punishment as a penal tool and why it is utilized by the legal system. In conclusion, this research again emphasizes upon the fact that criminal actions can be controlled and minimized with the proper form of punishment. Furthermore, the conclusive evidence at the end of this research defines the fact that, as has been said, punishment is indeed crucial to law enforcement officials in gaining control over crime and maintaining a more peaceful atmosphere for the general public at large. Restorative justice is one idea of how to relate the theory of punishment to the maintenance of legal control over criminal offenders. Although restorative justice in itself has not been shown to minimize crime, it has been helpful in bringing a relative relation between the victim and the offender and what punishments are best suited to fit the criminal actions of an offender as well (Strang 2005). The main difference between this form of justice and conventional methods is the fact that there is more of a mediating process involved to solve the problems leading to crime in the communities rather than focusing solely on the state as the main victim of criminal offenders, such as the conventional method does (Goulding 2005). It has been found that the main goal of restorative justice is to correct the harm within communities that has been caused by criminal actions placed onto them by the offenders. There is still a process of punishment associated with this new area of the judicial process but it is focused on a more humane way of dealing with crime rather than corporal punishment, or other harsher sentencing, etc (Goulding 2005). However, to some in society this is a positive attribute being added to the judicial system and to others (especially law enforcement personnel) it is neglecting the proper way to control and combat crime as there are those in the judicial system that still feel severe punishments are justifiable for certain criminal actions and therefore should be continued in order to properly control crime (Goulding 2005). Nevertheless, restorative justice does have its benefits and it is effectively being used to try and determine what rehabilitative treatment methods are best for preventing offenders from repeating their criminal behavior patterns in society. Also, in regards to punishment and treatment, restorative justice has the offender become a participant in these decisions. The offender is allowed to voice what treatment and punishment that they feel would be the best solution and penalty for their criminal actions. Researchers are defining this as a positive characteristic of this form of justice because there have been hints that allowing the offender to be a part of the justice process in a more active manner can increase the statistics that they will not continue their actions in a repetitive pattern but will rather conform to societal rules depicted by the legal process (Goulding 2005).