Beccaria Punishment

With the foundation of due process established, Beccaria turned his attention to the aspect of punishment. As stated before, crime is a threat against social order, therefore, the purpose of punishment is to deter individuals from committing crimes. Crime occurs when it is concluded by the individuals that the potential benefits from the crime outweigh the fear of judicial punishment. This factor may increase individual’s chances of either commit more crimes or severe ones in the future. To combat this, government must impose Beccaria’s three elements of punishment. There are two benefits when punishments are swift. It allows offenders to be punished within the allotted time of the commission of the crime and ensured the deprivation of liberty would not precede the sentence (Schram & Tibbetts, 2018). These two factors are important due to their abilities to ensure justice is carried out quickly without the courts or individuals suffering from wasted time, resources and judgement. From a deterrence aspect, punishment must be swift for the guilty to feel associated to the punishment from their crimes. The less time has allotted from the crime to the punishment, the heavier their mind is affected by …show more content…
This element is the most important element in Beccaria’s punishment because it will guarantee that reprimands and retributions will placed upon law-breakers. Rules are established to maintain law and order, therefore, to ensure compliance from all citizens, the threat of punishment must be known as a real factor. In other words, certainly reestablished the fear of punishment if one attempts to commit a crime. Lastly, punishment must be severe enough that the set penalty will outweigh any potential benefits from a crime (Schram & Tibbetts, 2018). The more punishment is seen as a predominant factor in the commission of a crime, the less appealing committing the crime will