Our navigation bar is loading . . .

Subscribe to JCSM's weekly inspirational message podcast!Write on Jason Gastrich's Facebook page!Add JCSM as a friend to your MySpace account!Watch Jason Gastrich's videos on YouTube!
Read, respond and subscribe to Jason Gastrich's blog!

Designate a portion of your next eBay auction to JCSM through eBay's Mission Fish program!JCSM's Top 1000 Christian Sites - Free Traffic Sharing Service!
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997

Please type your email and let us encourage you!

 
        Search jcsm.org now!

Click here and add this page to your favorites!

Return to the JCSM Study Center!

Encyclopedia Britannica



PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)

This article appears in Volume V22, Page 653 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PRE-PYR
PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil) , the infliction of some kind of pain' or loss upon a person for a misdeed, i.e. the transgression of a law or command. Punishment may take forms varying from
capital
  punishment, flogging and mutilation of the
body
  to imprisonment, fines, and even deferred sentences which come into operation only if an offence is repeated within a specified time. The progress of civilization has resulted in a vast
change
  alike in the theory and in the method of punishment. In primitive society punishment was left to the individuals wronged or their families, and was vindictive or retributive: in quantity and quality' it would
bear
  no
special
  relation to the character or gravity of the offence. Gradually there would arise the idea of proportionate punishment, of which the characteristic type is the lex talionis,' " an eye for an eye." The second stage was punishment by individuals under the
control
  of the state, or community; in the third stage, with the growth of law, the state took over the primitive
function
  and provided itself with the machinery of " justice " for the maintenance of public order. Henceforward crimes are against the state, and the exaction of punishment by the wronged individual is illegal (cf.
LYNCH
  LAW). Even at this stage the vindictive or retributive character of punishment remains, but gradually, and specially after the humanist
movement
  under thinkers like Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham, new theories begin to emerge. Two
chief
  trains of thought have combined in the condemnation of primitive theory and practice. On the one hand the retributive principle itself has been very largely superseded by the protective and the reformative; on the other punishments involving bodily pain have become objectionable to the general sense of society. Consequently corporal and even
capital
  punishment occupy a far less prominent position, and tend everywhere to disappear. It began to be recognized also that stereotyped punishments, such as belong to penal codes, fail to take due account of the particular condition of an offence and the character and circumstances of the offender. A fixed fine, for example, operates very unequally on rich and poor.
Modern theories date from the 18th century, when the humanitarian
movement
  began to teach the dignity of the individual and to emphasize his rationality and responsibility. The result was the reduction of punishment both in quantity and in severity, the improvement of the prison system, and the first attempts to study the psychology of crime and to distinguish between classes of criminals with a view to their improvement (see CRIME; PRISON; CHILDREN'S COURTS; JUVENILE OFFENDERS). These latter problems are the province of criminal anthropology and criminal sociology, sciences so called because they view crime as the outcome of anthropological and social conditions. The man who breaks the law is himself a product of social evolution and cannot be regarded as solely responsible for his disposition to transgress. Habitual crime is thus to be treated as a disease. Punishment can, therefore, be justified only in so far as it (I) protects society by removing temporarily or
1 Talio, in juridical Latin, the abstract noun from talis, such, alike, hence " retaliation." See Exod. xxi. 24; Lev. xxiv. 20; Deut. xix. 2I.permanently one who has injured it, or acting as a deterrent,2 or (2) aims at the moral regeneration of the criminal. Thus the retributive theory of punishment with its criterion of justice as an end in itself gives place to a theory which regards punishment solely as a means to an end, utilitarian or moral, according as the common advantage or the good of the criminal is sought.


End of Article: PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from poena, punishment, Gr. 7rocvil)


If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/PRE_PYR/PUNISHMENT_from_Lat_punire_to_.html">
PUNISHMENT (from Lat. punire, to punish, from p...
</a>
(Previous)
PUNIC WARS 		(Next)
PUNJAB

 


 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

The JCSM Study CenterAmerica's Christian FoundationSkeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and ExplainedNKJV Web Hosting and Services
JCSM's Sermons, Debates and the Bible on MP3The Online Christ-Centered MinistriesDo You Have A Web Site?  Your Ad Could Be Here!Seminary Notes and PapersThe Picturesque Photo Albums


Jesus Christ Saves Ministries, P.O. Box 70696, Pasadena, CA 91117

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-present.



Kingdom Debt Solutions - Be Debt Free! Sport Logos - Quality Athletic Equipment The JCSM Study Center Your Ad Could Be Here! Launch A Successful Internet Organization or Business! Learn Guitar, Bass, or Piano in San Diego county!

You can advertise your site right here!

Free & Cheap Cell Phones  |  Cheap Long Distance Phone Service Carriers  |  Talk America Local Phone Service  |  Ztel & MCI - Unlimited Long Distance
Compare Cell Phone Plans & Companies  |  International Calling Cards & Prepaid Phone Cards  |  Voice Over IP Broadband Internet Phone Service  |  Wireless Phone Plans & Cheap Cell Phones

Dr. Jason Gastrich

Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.

 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries is directed by Dr. Jason Gastrich. It was founded in 1997 and it exists to bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that have been sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA  92169
1-877-850-3878 or Email

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-2009.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Online First Aid and CPR Certification  .  The Online Christ Centered Ministries  .  The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained  .  The Inerrancy Discussion Board  .  Free Email Accounts  .  Home Equity Loans  .  JasonGastrich.com  .  The Missions, Apologetics, and Creation Bible Conference  .  Young Earth Creation Science  .  San Diego Music Lessons  .  10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings  .  Gastrich.net  .  Maximizing the Internet: 12 Keys to Success  .  Louisiana Baptist University  .  NKJV Web Hosting and Services  .  Michael Newdow  .  San Diego Soccer Training  . Christian Guitar Lessons  .  Jesus Christ Saves Ministries  .  Eternal Security