DETERRENCE
A theory that criminal laws are passed with well-defined punishments to discourage individual criminal defendants from becoming repeat offenders and to discourage others in society from engaging in similar criminal activity Deterrence is one of the primary objects of the CRIMINAL LAW. Its primary goal is to dis-
courage members of society from committing
criminal acts out of fear of punishment. The
most powerful deterrent would be a criminal
justice system that guaranteed with certainty that
all persons who broke the law would be appre-
hended, convicted, and punished, and would
receive no personal benefit from their wrongdo-
ing. However, it is unrealistic to believe that any
criminal justice system could ever accomplish
this goal, no matter how many law enforcement
resources were dedicated to achieving it.
As a result, philosophers, criminologists, judges, lawyers, and others have debated
whether and to what extent any criminal justice system actually serves as a deterrent. Deterrence requires the would-be criminal to possess some degree of reflective capacity before the crime is committed, at least enough reflection to consider the possible consequences of violating the law if caught.
Since many crimes are committed during
“the heat of the moment” when an individual’s
reflective capacities are severely compromised,
most observers agree that some crimes simply
cannot be deterred. Individuals who commit
crimes for the thrill of “getting away with it” and
outwitting law enforcement officials probably
cannot be deterred either. In fact, such individu-
als may only be tempted and encouraged by law
enforcement claims of superior crime-prevention
and crime-solving skills.
CROSS-REFERENCES
Criminology; Justification; Motive.
