Theories of punishment

A chain-snatcher on the Harbour Line gets caught by other commuters and handed over to the police. Ask ten people what should happen to him and you will hear ten answers: 'he deserves it', 'make an example of him so others think twice', 'keep him locked up so he cannot do it again', 'get him a job and a second chance'. Each answer is a theory of punishment. The law borrows from all of them, and this topic asks which one is doing the work in any given sentence.

In two minutes

Five main theories explain why the State punishes: retribution (the offender deserves it), deterrence (to put off the offender and others), prevention or incapacitation (to stop him offending), reformation (to change him) and restoration (to repair the harm); Indian courts mix them, with reform gaining weight and death reserved for the rarest cases.

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