Definition

The word “penology” is derived from the word “punishment or

penalty”. It is an ancient denomination issued since the time of struggle
for prisons reform.
As the imprisonment was accompanied by abuses in the treatment of
the prisoner, reformers tried to eliminate these abuses and their efforts
led to the following results:
(1) The possibilities of the prisoner to claim justice in front the court.
(2) The disciplinary sanction could not be applied unless after a
disciplinary
regular trial in which the prisoner’s defense is heard.
(3) The suppression of any discrimination due to race, religion or social
position.
(4) The freedom of religious belief and performing its rites.
(5) The interdiction of any cruelty or savage treatment
(6) The abolition of flagellation
(7) The suppression of the iron chain which was attached to the
prisoner’s legs.
(8) The teaching of a job that the prisoner exerts after his release or the
improvement of the job exercise when the prisoner has yet a job.
(9) The prohibition of medical experiments on prisoners without their
consent.
(10)The attenuation of freedom restrictions before release
(11)The right of vote in the general elections.
(12)The right of studying and passing instruction examinations
(13)The right of maintaining contact with the exterior social ambient of
relatives and friends by receiving their visits exchanging
correspondence with them, and going out of the prison for a short stay.

Punishment is a component of the criminal justice system commonly

taken for granted. Most individuals have an opinion about punishment
based on their general view of what is right and what is wrong. There
are, however, invisible aspects of punishment that affect not only those
who break the law and those directly affected by the incarceration of
the lawbreaker but also the society that decides what type of
punishment is meted out. The theoretical arguments and justifications
for punishment reveal the values of society concerning justice, human
rights, social equality, and relations between the state and its citizens.

The Purpose of Punishment

Punishment, however, did originate in revenge; and the latter has
certainly played its part in ensuring the safety of the community-be it
imperfectly, and accompanied by grave disadvantages. In primitive
forms of society taking revenge is, indeed, morally imperative.
Gradually, however, as the community begins to take over this
function, the position is changed, and has now turned the other way
round: it is To criminology also belongs penology, or the science of
punishment. The limited size of the present volume prevents a
thorough treatment of this subject. A few remarks made here, and in
the last chapter, must suffice revenge by the wronged party which is
prohibited-not only morally, but in criminal law as well.
Present-day punishment contains two elements:
Firstly, it serves-as it always has done-to satisfy the feelings of revenge
and revulsion on the part of the members of the collectivity. No amount
 of theorizing about ‘returning evil with evil’, etc., however ingeniously
invented, can alter this in the least. But this element, which was at one
time supreme, suffered an important check from the second.
Secondly, it is the safeguarding of the community (la defense sociale).
To some extent it has always been present-if only in a more or less
unconscious form. It has, however, now entered into the social
consciousness, and is already of considerable importance. Society takes
certain measures against its harmful members, one of the chief of which
is, surely, the attempt to educate them with a view to fitting them once
more for social life. Punishment-i.e. the pain which it is intended to
inflict-also belongs to society’s armory; but the difference between
educative and correctional ‘measures and punishment is not nearly so
great as many theoretical criminologists would have us believe. The
pain inflicted by these measures is usually also of a serious nature, for it
implies robbing the subject of his or her freedom; it does not, therefore,
differ so very much. To sum up, our conclusion is that crime is a serious
antisocial action to which the state reacts consciously, by inflicting pain
(either punishment or correctional measures).

Kinds Of Punishments

The five different kinds of punishments awarded by the Indian Penal

Code, 1860 have been enumerated under Section 53.
• Death
• Life imprisonment
• Simple or rigorous imprisonment
• Fine
• Forfeiture of property

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Corporal punishment or physical punishment is a punishment intended to
cause physical pain to a person. Punishment for crime by inflicting pain or injury,
including flogging, branding, stoning, and even mutilation, was practiced in
most civilizations since ancient times. However, with the growth
of humanitarian ideals since the Enlightenment, such punishments were
increasingly viewed as inhumane. By the late 20th century, corporal punishment
had been eliminated from the legal systems of most developed countries.

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government-

sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment
for a crime. The sentence ordering that someone be punished in such a manner is
referred to as a death sentence, whereas the act of carrying out such a sentence
is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and is
awaiting execution is referred to as condemned, and is said in some countries to
be on "death row". Crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital
crimes, capital offences or capital felonies, and vary depending on the
jurisdiction, but commonly include serious offences such as murder, mass murder,
aggravated cases of rape, child rape, child sexual
abuse, terrorism, treason, espionage, sedition, offences against the State (such as
attempting to overthrow government), piracy, aircraft hijacking, drug
trafficking, drug dealing and drug possession, war crimes, crimes against
humanity and genocide, and in some cases, the most serious acts
of recidivism, aggravated robbery, and kidnapping.
Etymologically, the term capital (lit. "of the head", derived via
the Latin capitalis from caput, "head") in this context alluded to execution
by beheading.

3R’s of Penology:

1. Reformation
2. Rehabilitation.
3. Resocialization
PUNISHMENT:
MEANING, DEFINITION, NATURE AND SCOPE:

Modern Penologists are whether the conventional forms of punishment

should remain the special or most important and primary weapon is
restrictive criminal behavior or should be supplemented and even replaced
by a much more flexible or diversified combination of measures of
treatment of a reformative, restorative and protective nature. Punishment
is a considered as a social reaction to crime. It is a human act and involves
deliberate infliction of suffering on the wrong doer. It is an institutionalised
suffering. Punishment is the reaction to crime, which is a means of social
control. Walter Reckless in considering the meaning of punishment, says,
"It is the redress that the common wealth takes against an offending
member". Punishment, according to Westermarck, is limited to "such
suffering as is inflicted upon the offender in a definite way by, or in the
name of, the society of which he is a permanent or temporary member.
With a view to formulate a sociological rationale of punishment, Jackson
Toby brought out in an amplified manner that the society really has no
other alternate by which it can control deviations. According to him,
punishment, as a social control, has every possibilities of preventing or
deterring crime of sustaining the morale of those who conform to the
norms of the society and are morally committed to them and rehabilitating
offenders.
According to Sir Walter Moberly suggests that punishment presumes that;

1. What is inflicted is an ill, that is something unpleasant

2. It is a sequel to some act which is disapproved by authority
3. There is some correspondence between the punishment and the act
which has evoked it
4. Punishment is inflicted, that is imposed by someone's voluntary act
5. Punishment is inflicted upon the criminal, or upon someone who is
supposed to be answerable for him and for his wrong doings
6. According to Grunhut, three components must be present if punishment
is to act as a reasonable means of checking crime;
7. Speedy and inescapable detection and prosecution must convince the
offender that crime does not pay
8. After punishment the offender must have a fair chance to fresh start.
AIMS OF PUNISHMENT:
The aim of Punishment is to control crime and to reduce the amount of
crime in
society. But why do we punish?
1. General Deterrence:
Make punishment swift and severe enough that people in the general
population will not want to commit crimes.
Prevention of criminal acts in the population at large can be gained by the
imposition of punishment on persons convicted of crimes.
Belief that the pain of punishment should outweigh the benefits of crime.
2. Incapacitation
Keep offender from committing offences by keeping him or her in prison
during the time that an offender is in prison, he or she cannot commit crime
on the outside.
PreventionPrevention of criminal acts can be gained by restraining the
person being punished from committing criminal acts.
3. Specific Deterrence
Punishment should be severe enough to make the offender not want to
commit crimes in the future.
4. Rehabilitation
There is something wrong with the offender that makes him or her commit
crimes. So, treat the offender so that he or she can re-adjust to society and
not commit crimes.
5. Retribution / Desert
Crimes are acts that deserve punishment.
Has no crime control aim. Focuses exclusively on the past criminal
behaviour and punishment is given solely to express condemnation of that
behaviour
Just deserts - idea that punishment should fit the crime and punishment
must be equal in proportion to the seriousness of the offence.
6. Equity
The offender should pay back society and victims for their losses; examples
restitution payments, payment for court costs, imprisonment costs.

Types of punishment
There are basically two types of punishment. They are
Positive Punishment
1. Positive punishment works by presenting a negative consequence after
an undesired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior less likely to
happen in the future. For example- During a meeting or while in class,
your cell phone starts ringing, you are lectured on why it is not okay to
have your phone on.
Negative punishment
1. Negative punishment happens when a certain desired stimulus/item is
removed after a particular undesired behavior is exhibited, resulting in the
behavior happening less often in the future. The following are some
examples of negative punishment:
2. For a child that really enjoys a specific class, such as gym or music
classes at school, negative punishment can happen if they are removed from
that class and sent to the principal’s office because they were acting
out/misbehaving.