Punishment is subjecting an individual or a group of people to an undesirable outcome as a response to a particular unacceptable action or behavior.
| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Arguments in favor of | Arguments opposing |
| There is a response to an unacceptable action or behavior. | |
| Punishment makes it clear that an upleasant response should be expected if an unacceptable action is committed. | Punishment may create avoidance owed to fear and stop people from understanding the rational behind the unacceptablity of an action. |
| May help to discourage committing the unacceptable act. | |
| Punishment may help to reduce the occurance of unacceptable actions in the society. | There is little agreement on the effectiveness of punishment to deter people from committing an unacceptable action. |
| May help to integrate the offender back into the society. | |
| Punishment may help the offender to reconsider committing unacceptable actions and find different ways of integrating into the society. | Due to undesirability of punishment, it may create negative mental or physical conditions and hence complicate the integration back into the society. |
| May make the offender incapable of committing the act. | |
| Particular forms of punishment may make it less likely for the offender to repeat the unacceptable action. | Making the offender incapable of re-committing the action may come at a high cost of limited freedom and questioned dignity of the individual. |
Competing Views...