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Criminologists, Practitioners Respond to Arguments Against Legal Punishment

NCJ Number
148948
Journal
National Prison Project Journal Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1994) Pages: 3-6
Author(s)
A P Green; V Berger; D Chappell; N Christie; A Coyle; R Immarigeon; T Peters; S Shaw; H Zehr
Date Published
1994
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article presents comments by criminologists and corrections practitioners in response to an article by Lorraine Berzins that criticizes the just deserts model and proposes a corrections paradigm that emphasizes the liability of the offender for harm and injury caused by the behavior at issue.
Abstract
According to Berzins, the outdated concept of punishment as a requirement of justice must be challenged, since efforts to match the administration of pain to the offender with the seriousness of the offense is inevitably a political decision by dominant economic and social groups in a society. The nine criminologists and practitioners who respond to Berzins' concepts agree that the administration of punishments to match the seriousness of an offense is inevitably a subjective decision rather than an absolute standard of justice. Further, punishment has not proven to be effective in changing criminal behavior or making society safer. Many of the respondents, however, advise that Berzins does not address many of the problematic issues that would be posed by a paradigm that emphasizes offender liability toward the victim and efforts to provide care and rehabilitation for the offender. This paradigm, according to some of the commentators, also has potential for abuse and futility.

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