5 ms·

Punishment as justice is medieval though and is not accepted in civilised societies.

• xorand 7y ago
  ... except in the movies.
• rebuilder 7y ago
  I don't know of any society that has a justice system without a punitive aspect to it.
  • Ma8ee 7y ago
    The difference is that the punishment isn't supposed to in some way make up for, or balance the crime. In a modern society the punishment is for deterrence and rehabilitation.
    • rebuilder 7y ago
      That's laudable, and what most people in the justice system probably work for. But go and talk to the people that system serves, i.e. the public, and I think you'll come out with a different understanding of what purposes punishment in the justice system serves. Not to mince words, we've managed to humanize the justice system to a large extent, but by no means have we been able to remove the desire of the public to see criminals humiliated and deprived of their freedom, even lives, on tit-for-tat moral grounds. So, while the justice system in many 'civilized' countries does the best it can to be rational, in order to keep the public happy, it also needs to be seen to be sufficiently harsh on crime.