The name "America" is often used to refer to the United States, but until the political formation of the United States after the Revolutionary War, this designation referred to South America only.
Originally, tort and criminal law were indistinguishable, and
The name "America" is often used to refer to the United States, but until the political formation of the United States after the Revolutionary War, this designation referred to South America only.
Originally, tort and criminal law were indistinguishable, and, even when the two branches began to acquire independent identities, the former remained for a very long time in the shadow of the latter. Research in the United Stateshowever, has shown that some jurisdictions that use the death penalty have higher murder rates than those that do not.
There are several interpretations of this pattern. Some argue that use of the death penalty is a response to, but not a cause of, high murder rates, while some maintain that it has a brutalizing effect on society that increases the incidence of murder by instilling a lower regard for human life.
See below Effectiveness of punishment. Another form of deterrence, known by the term denunciation, utilizes public condemnation as a form of community moral education. In this approach, a person found guilty of a crime is denounced—that is, subjected to shame and public criticism.
Although denunciation is closely associated with general deterrence through fear—and many courts have imposed sentences designed to achieve both objectives simultaneously—there is an important distinction between them.
Education through denunciation is generally aimed at discouraging law-abiding citizens from committing criminal acts. Its object is to reinforce their rejection of law-breaking behaviour. Most people do not steal because they believe that stealing is dishonest; a sentence imposed on a thief reinforces that view.
General deterrence through fear is aimed at those who avoid law-breaking behaviour not on moral grounds but on the basis of a calculation of the potential rewards and penalties involved. Individual deterrence Individual deterrence is directed at the person being punished: It is also the rationale of much informal punishment, such as parental punishment of children.
Theoretically, the effectiveness of individual deterrence can be measured by examining the subsequent conduct of the offender. Such studies often have been misleading, however, because in most cases the only basis for proving that the offender repeated his crime is a further conviction.
Because a high proportion of crimes do not result in convictionsmany offenders who are not reconvicted after being punished may have committed additional crimes.
Theories of deterrence and retribution share the idea that punishments should be proportio