Justice, Punishment and the State (From Coming Penal Crisis - A Criminological and Theological Exploration, P 53-70, 1980, A E Bottoms and Ronald H Preston, ed. - See NCJ-73802)

• NCJ Number: 73804
• Author(s): R Plant
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Scottish Academic Press Ltd
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

Both the rehabilitative and justice models of treating offenders are challenged because they foster only one moral viewpoint in a pluralistic society. The utilitarian model which omits moral issues may be a better philosophical basis for a penal system.

Abstract

Proponents of the justice model criticize adherents to the rehabilitative model because they link the length of imprisonment to the extent to which the offender has reformed and thereby force their own moral values on the offender. Furthermore, by taking the responsibility for the crime away from offenders, they deny them the right to be respected as individuals. However, the same argument can be used against the retributive justice model. Unlike the rehabilitative model, it claims to restore the respect of the offender by placing responsibility for the crime on the criminal and demanding punishment according to the gravity of the crime. Thus, sentencing is seen as an act of justice. However, this theory forces on the offender one view of what constitutes justice and, therefore, like the rehabilitative model cannot be valid until the moral basis of punishment is considered. Until this dilemma is settled, it may be feasible to accept a utilitarian basis for the penal system because it is not concerned with moral justification of punishment and can include diverse philosophies. The philosophical background of each model is discussed, and notes are included.