Except the punishments do not make the victim whole again, they cost society a shitload of money, and oftentimes the offenders have no idea what the consequence

Except the punishments do not make the victim whole again, they cost society a shitload of money, and oftentimes the offenders have no idea what the consequences actually are. So, what is this for? I'm not advocating no consequences for anything, but I think a financial penalty would be far more effective and might have a chance at actually giving the victim something besides some nebulous feeling of satisfaction, while saving us money and not costing us productive members of society who had a moment of lapsed judgement. I've worked with a lot of ex cons. Sure you have some that are hard core criminals, but the vast, vast majority are just people who did something stupid, know it, regret it, and are branded for life for it. It sucks.