Sentencing

Goals

Sentencing is the decision about what should be done to, for, or about the convicted offender. In most cases, the sentencing authority must choose between a number of possible penalties. This choice, naturally, is influenced by the goals of sentencing. Over the years four major goals of sentencing have been identified: deterrence, incapacitation, treatment, and retribution. An additional purpose, restoration, has emerged in recent years. Alone, or in combination, these goals explain or justify the selection of sentences.

The goal of deterrence is to prevent future crime by threatening punishment. Offenders are punished so that they—and others—will “think twice” about committing crimes. The theory of deterrence assumes that humans are rational beings who will avoid crime if the sentence imposed for its commission causes more pain than the pleasure received by committing it. For example, no rational person would steal fifty dollars if—assuming the person was caught—he or she would be made to pay a $100 fine; the $50 gain is less than the $100 loss. There are two types of deterrence: General deterrence aims at convincing others not to commit similar crimes by punishing a particular offender; specific deterrence punishes the offender to convince him or her not to offend again.

Incapacitation—whether through incarceration, community supervision, or some other method—aims at preventing the offender from having the opportunity to commit another crime. As does deterrence, incapacitation suggests that sentencing should act to reduce or prevent future crime. Unlike general deterrence, it is not concerned with providing lessons to others. In contrast to specific deterrence, an incapacitation sentence does not try to affect an offender's decision. Instead, incapacitation prevents the offender from having the chance to decide; an incarcerated offender cannot commit crimes in the community.

Treatment (also called rehabilitation) assumes that criminal behavior is a symptom or product of some problem faced by the offender. Treating the symptom solves the problem. For example, if an addict steals money solely to support a drug habit, the completion of a drug treatment program that cures the addiction will probably eliminate the addict's need or desire to commit future thefts.

Deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation involve the prediction of future criminal behavior as the basis for imposition of a current sentence. The person who is sentenced to a long prison term for reasons of incapacitation, for example, is expected to commit another crime; he or she is being punished not so much for the crime committed yesterday, but in order to prevent the crime he or she is expected to commit tomorrow. Critics argue that it is unfair to punish people for things they have not yet done—especially since predictions of future crime are not very accurate. Others, however, believe that it is a responsibility of sentencing officials to take steps to protect public safety in the future.

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