The Criminal − the Victim − Society. Ethical-Legal Considerations on the Theory of Punishment

Abstract

The question about the sense of punishment entails a question about its empirically--measured effectiveness. It has, however, also an ethical dimension. Punishment as a state-sanctioned way to react to offenses fulfills its role only then when the agent may be held responsible for his offence, and this means that his offence must have its source in the free will. Punishment is therefore a general-preventive means, and at the same time it is a means of particular prevention and re-socialization.

The community that is based on human dignity cannot fail to defend its necessary norms by which to live together in a peaceful and safe manner, including appropriate criminal law. Punishment, however, cannot be a goal in itself, but it is a public disapproval for the encroachment of law. It strengthens the system of norms, taking into consideration the victim, a possible re-socialization of the offender and the community which must protect the foundation upon which it is grounded.