Deterrence, Crime and Humiliation



Deterrence, Crime and Humiliation

Introduction

The theory of deterrence in crime management is a method by which punishment is used to 'deter' or discourage people from committing crime. Two types of deterrence exist today, specific and general. Specific deterrence argues that by punishing an individual for the crime that he/she has committed will stop them from becoming a repeat offender, and it may be seen as a 'lesson' for the individual. This type of deterrence is based on the principle of hedonistic calculus which means an assumption of the human nature which urges individuals towars pleasure and draws away from pain (Brown et al, 2010). General deterrence is a punishment for a person which stops the whole society from repeating or committing crimes. In this type of deterrence, punishment is used to generate 'fear' within the society in order to dissuade them from participating in the criminal acts. Public awareness and publicity play a vital role in the effectiveness of general deterrence, for example, broadcasting punishment on tv or news media will deter people from committing the same types of crime to avoid the resulting punishment.

Casare Beccaria, the father of classical criminology firmly believed that security, reliability and speed can prevent crime. He said that as the certainty of punishment becomes more established, each person is less likely to break the law. He belived that punishment for a crime should be swift, as it would have a stonger effect on the individual. He also believed that the severity of the punishment acts as a deterrent to persons intending to commit crime, basically the worse the punishment, the less the crime (Brown et al, 2010). However, there are some theorists who believe in the "backlash effect" of deterrence. According to Gary Lafee and his collegues study, deterrence does work but ...