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3-1 Journal: What Do You Think?
Ryan E. Hunt
Southern New Hampshire University
CJ-112 Intro to Criminal Justice
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There are four purposes of punishment, and they are as follows: deterrence,
incapacitation, retribution, and rehabilitation. In my opinion rehabilitation is the most important
out of the four because no matter how much deterrence available crime is will always be there.
Rehabilitation is truly the only way you can educate someone on their crimes and what they can
do to turn their life around to not become and recidivist. Retribution would be second because
when someone is punished in a way that is equitable to the crime, they have committed they are
more prone to understanding the seriousness and why crime is not a way of life. Third would be
incapacitation because dependent on the crime I feel as though avoiding prison or jail time could
be important for a first-time criminal as many feel that once they must serve jail time there is no
room for rehabilitation. And because I feel that crime will always be there, deterrence would be
the last for me.
I think Capital Punishment fits best into the deterrence and the retribution purposes of
punishment. When it comes to deterrence, to most people the thought of being on death row and
being put to death would stop them from committing a crime serious enough to have them
sentenced to death. When it comes to retribution, not every crime calls for Capital Punishment,
but there are crimes to are equitable as such. When it comes to murder or crimes against children,
I believe Capital Punishment should be an option because this can also help with deterrence the
more people see this is an option.
My opinion on Capital Punishment is a hard one for me to describe. I truly feel like I am
someone who believes in not causing harm to others, but as a mother when I see stories on the
news about crimes against children, I understand why Capital Punishment is an option in the
United States. Capital Punishment does not align at all with my belief that rehabilitation is the
highest priority. I like to think that someone could be rehabilitated before taking it as far and the
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need for Capital Punishment, but I realize that cannot be entirely possible when it is something
that is openly available.
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References:
Peak, K. J., Madensen, T. D. (2017). Southern New Hampshire University: Introduction
to Criminal Justice: Practice and Process Interactive eBook, 3rd Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf
10.3.2]. Retrieved from vbk://9781071856239
