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Concept
Retributive justice
Summary
Retributive justice is a legal punishment that requires the offender to receive a punishment for a crime proportional and similar to its offense.
As opposed to revenge, retribution—and thus retributive justice—is not personal, is directed only at wrongdoing, has inherent limits, involves no pleasure at the suffering of others (i.e., schadenfreude, sadism), and employs procedural standards. Retributive justice contrasts with other purposes of punishment such as deterrence (prevention of future crimes), exile (prevention of opportunity) and rehabilitation of the offender.
The concept is found in most world cultures and in many ancient texts. Classical texts advocating the retributive view include Cicero's De Legibus (1st century BC), Kant's Science of Right (1790), and Hegel's Philosophy of Right (1821). The presence of retributive justice in ancient Jewish culture is shown by its mention in the law of Moses, which refers to the punishments of "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" in reference to the Code of Hammurabi. Documents assert similar values in other cultures. However, the judgment of whether a punishment is appropriately severe can vary greatly across cultures and individuals.
Some purposes of official retribution include:
to channel the retributive sentiments of the public into the political and legal systems. The intent is to deter people from resorting to lynchings, blood feuds, and other forms of vigilante self-help.
to promote social solidarity through participation in the act of punishing, under the theory that "the society that slays together stays together."
to prevent a situation in which a citizen who would have preferred to obey the law as part of his civic responsibility decides that he would be a fool to not violate it, when so many others are getting away with lawlessness that the point of his obedience is mostly defeated.
In all ancient legal systems, retribution for wrongdoing took precedence over the enforcement of rights.
Official source
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