4. It must not be natural consequences of some action.
5. It must be inflicted by an authority or institution wholes rules or laws have been broken.
We must be careful not to confuse an act of punishment with an act of revenge or vengeance carried out by somebody who has no authority to punish or is acting under the guise of "vigilante justice". .
Why Punish.
According to Banks (2013), the issue of punishment gives rise to many questions, primarily why we should punish offenders. Banks states that some possible reasons may be:.
They deserve punishment.
It will stop them from future commission of crime.
Punishment is a message to victims that society objects to what has happened to them.
It discourages others from committing the same actions.
It protects society.
Punishment allows the offender to make amends.
Punishment helps people understand that laws and rules are there for obedience.
Penal theory over time has been fluid, much like everything in the criminal justice system, which has changed our purpose for punishment. During the early civilization B.C., penalties were disproportionate in relation to the crime and the focus was on deterrence of crime. Banks (2013) cites the example of the Draconian punishments that occurred during the period of the Draco Code. Draconian punishment employed capital punishment for everything from minor crimes to serious offenses (p. 116). Deterrence focuses on punishment in terms of its ability to reduce crime (p. 117). Banks explains deterrence is either individual deterrence that deters someone who has already committed a crime from reoffending or general deterrence that deters potential criminals from offending because of the punishment that will be received.
As society and the criminal justice system evolved, so too did the focus of punishment. With the professionalization of police and law enforcement, society moved to punishment focusing on reform and rehabilitation of the offender.