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Ministry of International Affairs

Academy tefan cel Mare





Report
Types of punishment



olopa Ion
I-st years student
S.P.O. Faculty








Chiinu 2014


Types of Punishments for Criminals
There are a number of different types of punishments that the states and federal
government can use against convicted criminals. These punishments run the gamut from
community service to the death penalty. Punishment is used against criminals for a
number of different reasons. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy states that the
primary role for punishment in modern society is retributive. Other justifications for
punishment are rehabilitation, deterrence and incapacitation.

The removal of a person's freedom has been used since ancient times as a punishment.
However, until the late eighteenth century in England, it was unusual to imprison guilty
people for long terms. Hanging and transportation were the main punishments for
serious offences. Prisons served as lock-ups for debtors and places where the accused
were kept before their trial. However, by the Victorian era, prison had beome an
acceptable punishment for serious offenders and it was also seen as a means to prevent
crime. It had become the main form of punishment for a wide range of offences.

How did this change come about?
As towns grew and crime levels increased, people became more and more worried
about how criminals could be kept under control. However, there was also public
unease at the number of people being hung. By the 1830s, many areas in Australia were
refusing to be the 'dumping-ground' for Britain's criminals. There were more criminals
than could be transported. The answer was to reform the police and to build more
prisons: 90 prisons were built or added to between 1842 and 1877. This was a massive
building programme, costing millions of pounds.

By the mid Victorian Period, there were two distinct prison systems in England. There were the
county and shires gaols, administered by Justices of the Peace. These ranged from small lock ups to
large 'County Gaols' or 'Houses of Correction'.

The second system was the 'Convict Gaols' run by central government in London. Gradually, the use
of convict gaols came to include holding prisoners as part of the process of transportation to other
countries. Newgate was the main prison in this system. There were also three convict prisons at
Millbank, Pentonville and Brixton. Decommissioned naval vessels called 'hulks' were used to house
prisoners and became part of the convict gaol system. Other convict gaols were situated at ports.

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