keywords

• desert


  Punishment is awarded because the offender is guilty.
• blame


  Moral term which designates the degree of responsibility for which an agent is held for his or her immoral action.
• capital offence


  Any offence where the punishment is death
• deterrence


  Punishment for the protection it gives to society by deterring others from committing similar offences.
• lex talionis


  Latin for the retributive notion of ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth or a life for a life’.
• mitigation


  A term used to suggest that there are factors which when taken into account modify the appropriate punishment.
• retributivism


  The view that an offender is punished because he or she is guilty and deserves it. The offence is then paid off.
• rehabilitation


  The view that punishment should be for the good of the offender as well as society to help them improve and develop.