REFORMATIVE THEORY OF PUNISHMENT AND ITS COMPARATIVE STUDY WITH THE DETERRENT THEORY
By Shubham Yadav
This paper is aimed to study the reformative theory of punishment and its comparative study with deterrent theory of punishment. Reformative theory of punishment and deterrent theory of punishment are related to philosophical principles behind the infliction of punishment. Reformative theory admits only such types of punishment which are educative and disciplinary to the criminal, not those which inflict pain on the offender while according to deterrent theory, the object of punishment is not only to prevent the wrong-doer from doing a wrong a second time, but also to make him an example to others who have criminal tendencies that is to say the chief aim of the law of crime is to make the evil-doer an example and a warning to all that are like-minded. Both the theories are similar on some point as well as differs from each other on certain grounds. Like the deterrent theory, the reformative theory of punishment is also focused on ensuring that the guilty person does not engage in criminal conduct in future. But they differ as in reformative theory of punishment, the focus is on reforming the wrongdoer so that he does not want to commit crimes any longer while deterrent theory seeks to create an environment where the individual would not commit the crime even if he wants to either because of fear or because of incapacity. While the deterrent theory seeks to influence the motive of a person, the reformative theory seeks to influence the character of a person.
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