NCJ Number
16485
Date Published
1974
Length
42 pages
Annotation
A REVIEW OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL, THEORETICAL, AND PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF LEGALIZED PUNISHMENT, A DISCUSSION OF THE HERITAGE AND REALITY OF LAW, AND AN OVERVIEW OF PENAL PRACTICE IN AMERICA SINCE THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
Abstract
PHILOSOPHIES OF PUNISHMENT SUCH AS THE RETRIBUTIVIST DOCTRINE AND THE UTILITARIAN DOCTRINE ARE ANALYZED. REFLECTIONS OF THE BASIC DOCTRINES IN CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT, THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION AND PENAL PRACTICE, AND IMPLICATIONS OF PENAL PRACTICES ARE REVIEWED AS WELL. ALSO DISCUSSED ARE THE INFLUENCE OF ANCIENT LAW, THE RISE OF MODERN LEGAL CONCEPT, THE CONTEMPORARY AIMS OF CRIMINAL LAW, CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES, AND THE EFFICACY OF PUNISHMENT. THE MAJOR TRENDS, PERSONS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND PRACTICES WHICH HAVE SHAPED THE COURSE OF PENAL PRACTICE FROM THE COLONIAL PERIOD TO THE PRESENT ARE OUTLINED. THE AUTHOR CRITICIZES THE PUNITIVE RESPONSES AND LEGAL PHILOSOPHIES WHICH SERVE ONLY TO PERPETUATE THE INTERESTS OF THE AFFLUENT, AND STATES THAT THE RETRIBUTIVE TENETS IN THE LAW AND THE REVENGEFUL FEELINGS IN SOCIETY WHICH IMPUTE CRIMINALITY TO THE LOWER-CLASS ELEMENTS IN SOCIETY MUST BE OVERCOME. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)