Retribution 2.2

Question 1

What is retribution?

Answer 1

Deserved, severe punishment or vengeance enacted in return for wrong doing, injury or sin.
Obtaining revenge or payback addressing expressive/emotional needs

Question 2

How does retribution work?

Answer 2

Through the principle of ‘just desserts’ which holds that individual who commits wrongful acts morally deserve a proportionate punishment as an end in itself

Question 3

What is an example of retribution?

Answer 3

Mandatory prison sentence that matched the severity of a crime

Question 4

How does the underpinning theory make retribution work?

Answer 4

• moral debt: breaking the law gives offender an unfair advantage, punishment forces them to payback the debt
• proportionality: punishment must match the crime
• free will: assumes people are rational, if you choose crime you earn the consequences

Question 5

What are some criticisms of retribution?

Answer 5

• no future benefits: backwards looking, socially unproductive
• it can lead to overly harsh or inhumane punishments
• subjective: inconsistent or biased sentencing