By Victor Bailey

The history of English criminal justice has been my research focus for over forty years, yet a documentary history of the ‘long’ nineteenth century, covering the years from 1776 to 1914, was always likely to be a mite challenging for a single author. It is at such times that one is reminded of the value of the community of historians, whose scholarship is invaluable when ‘quick study’ is required. I have relied heavily on the research of historians Doug Hay and John Beattie, as well as the scholarship of those they so effectively supervised: Simon Devereaux, Allyson May, and Greg Smith. By the same token, this four-volume edifice rests heavily on the research of Peter King, Randy McGowen, David Philips, Marty Wiener, Sean McConville, and Vic Gatrell. Finally, we are all in debt to Robert Shoemaker, Tim Hitchcock, and Clive Emsley for their scholarly direction of the Old Bailey Proceedings Online.

Taylor & Francis Group, Volume II, Justice, Mercy, Death, 2022, 41p.

By Ganga Shreedhar, Alessandro Tavoni, and Carmen Marchiori

With the aid of a lab experiment, we explored how imperfect monitoring and punishment networks impact appropriation, punishment, and beliefs in a common-pool resource appropriation dilemma. We examined the differences between a complete network—with perfect monitoring and punishment, in which everyone can observe and punish everyone else—and two imperfect networks that systematically reduced the number of subjects who could monitor and punish others: the directed and undirected circle networks. We found that free riders were punished in all treatments, but network topology affected the type of punishment. The undirected circle induced more severe and prosocial punishment compared to the other two networks. Both imperfect networks were more efficient overall, as the larger punishment capacity available in the complete network elicited a higher amount of punishment.

EnvironmentandDevelopmentEconomics(2019),1–29

By Ole Martin Moen & Aksel Braanen Sterri

Corporal punishment is punishment by means of infliction of bodily pain. In this chapter we discuss the ethical permissibility of corporal punishment, focusing on the method of judicial caning as this is carried out in Singapore. We compare the overall effects of this type of corporal punishment to incarceration in three domains: the welfare of individual convicts (Section 1), fairness between different categories of convicts (Section 2), and the welfare of society at large (Section 3). We conclude that although there are downsides to corporal punishment that should be taken very seriously, this method of punishment also has a number of upsides. We are mistaken, moreover, if we assume that it is more humane to inflict psychological pain over long stretches of time (as in the case of incarceration) than to inflict intense bodily pain over a very short period of time (as in the case of corporal punishment).

The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Punishment, 2024, 25p.

By Simeon Chavel

Many works collected in the Hebrew Bible present Israel’s god as one who punishes children because of their parents, and entire generations because of their predecessors. Intergenerational punishment is an idea about how Yahweh holds people of Israel and Judea to account for certain offenses, be it the nation as a whole, specific groups within the nation, or individuals.1 Most writings that engage the idea present it positively, as a feature of godly greatness. Two later texts, though, present Judeans criticizing it and Yahweh responding to the criticism, at Jer 31 and Ezek 18. How did the idea that Yahweh behaves this way originate? Why did most writers see it as positive? How did some come to challenge it? And why, for over two thousand years, has it been so misunder- stood – to the persistent denigration of Jews and Judaism?

The Pentateuch and Its Readers, Ed. Joel S. Baden and Jeffrey Stackert, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2023, pp. 285–306

By Kieran Edmond James

Based on my extensive interviews with ex-football star Henry Dyer, I explain and contextualise the following events so as to illustrate how discipline and punishment worked in the Western Fiji towns from 1985 up until the present: the imprisonment of Dyer and his escape and recapture during the military coup year of 1987; Dyer’s removal from the captaincy and the Fiji team to play Australia in November 1988, due to his alleged involvement in criminal activities; Dyer jumping the stadium fence to avoid police before a national-league game at Lautoka; and Dyer’s recent release from court with the case dismissed. Also covered is: an Indigenous villager’s theft of money from a Chinese gangster. The main findings are as follows: Even as a criminal, you are still marked as an Indigenous Fijian, via the non-mechanical approach, and hence are always an insider and subject to rehabilitation logic. Loopholes are retained, in the interests of fraternity and the awareness that, in Western Fiji, remote and thinly-populated as it is, people tend to know each other and so justice should be specifically-tailored. The strong Christian foundation of culture means that ex-prisoners will often couch their quest narratives in terms of suffering and redemption.

Imprisonment and Punishment in Fiji and the Links to Narrative Styles and Christian Culture, 18p.

By Julianna M. Lynch, Jonathan D. Lane, Colleen M. BerryessaI, Joshua RottmanI

Evidence of perpetrators’ biological or situational circumstances has been increasingly brought to bear in courtrooms. Yet, research findings are mixed as to whether this informa- tion influences folk evaluations of perpetrators’ dispositions, and subsequently, evaluations of their deserved punishments. Previous research has not clearly dissociated the effects of information about perpetrators’ genetic endowment versus their environmental circum- stances. Additionally, most research has focused exclusively on violations involving extreme physical harm, often using mock capital sentences cases as examples. To address these gaps in the literature, we employed a “switched-at-birth” paradigm to investigate whether positive or negative information about perpetrators’ genetic or environmental backgrounds influence evaluations of a perpetrator’s mental states, character, and deserved punishment. Across three studies, we varied whether the transgression involved direct harm, an impure act that caused no harm, or a case of moral luck. The results indicate that negative genetic and environmental backgrounds influenced participants’ evaluations of perpetrators’ inten- tions, free will, and character, but did not influence participants’ punishment decisions. Overall, these results replicate and extend existing findings suggesting that perpetrators’ supposed extenuating circumstances may not mitigate the punishment that others assign to them.

PLoS ONE 14(10): e0224093. 2019, 20p.

By ESPEN WALDERHAUG

he government’s proposal, Drug policy reform – from punishment to help, means that society’s reaction to illicit drugs for personal use will be transferred from the justice sector to the health sector (1). Today, the use and possession of narcotics is penalised with fines and up to six months’ imprisonment or a decision not to bring criminal charges followed by monitoring and drugs testing. This will change if the government gets its way. The police will continue to focus on use and possession, but if you are caught with small amounts of narcotics, this will instead result in a compulsory meeting with the municipal drugs counselling services. Selling drugs will continue to be criminally prosecuted as it is today. The same applies to the storage of large quantities of narcotics, production and import as well as driving under the influence.

The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association 2020, 3p.

By Sandy Xie, Colleen M. Berryessa, and Farah Focquaert

In 1972, Cecil Clayton suffered a serious accident during which a piece of wood shot into his head and dislodged bone shards that pierced his brain, leading to around 20 percent of his frontal lobe being surgically removed. After the removal, Clayton, who had previously been a loving husband, father, and preacher, transformed into an aggressive alcoholic whose wife divorced him. Clayton spent the next twenty years after his accident trying to get psychiatric help, suffering from extreme depression, violent episodes, anxiety, and hallucinations. Eventually, Clayton killed a sheriff’s deputy who responded to a domestic violence call. The deputy had not even left his car when Clayton shot him point blank. Clayton did not appear to understand the wrongness of his actions, even asking a friend who was with him at the time if he should shoot other officers that came to arrest him, to which his friend answered no.

In M. Altman (Ed.), Cham, Switzerland: The Palgrave Handbook on the Philosophy of Punishment. London, UK: Palgrave MacMillan., 38p.

By Rajeev K. Goel and Umad Mazhar

Capital punishment is the final frontier in enforcement. Given that there is no remediation in case there is an error in prosecution and/or conviction (and due to related moral issues), many nations do not have capital punishment, have eliminated this extreme form of punishment or have it on paper and have seldom used it (abolitionists in practice). The presence of death penalty, a legal instrument of crime deterrence, remains a politically charged issue worldwide.1 Typically, capital punishment is reserved for violent crimes, usually involving the death of the victims. However, in some cases, capital punishments are also handed out for other crimes. Even in nations where there is no capital punishment or where there is such punishment for specific crimes, the demonstration effect or learning on part of lawmakers might embolden them to consider suc

Wiley, 2018, 25p.

By JOAN E. DURRANT

Objective: In 1979, Sweden became the first nation to explicitly prohibit all forms of corporal punishment of children by all caretakers in an effort to: (1) alter public attitudes toward this practice; (2) increase early identification of children at risk for abuse; and (3) promote earlier and more supportive intervention to families. The aim of this study was to examine trends over recent decades in these areas to assess the degree to which these goals have been met. Method: Primary data were collected from official Swedish sources for the following variables: public support for corporal punishment, reporting of child physical assault, child abuse mortality, prosecution rates, and intervention by the social authorities. Lines of best fit were generated and Cox and Stuart tests for trend were conducted. Results: Public support for corporal punishment has declined, identification of children at risk has increased, child abuse mortality is rare, prosecution rates have remained steady, and social service intervention has become increasingly supportive and preventive. Conclusions: The Swedish ban has been highly successful in accomplishing its goals.

Child Abuse & Neglect, Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 435–448, 1999

By Rev. Aaron Pidel, S.J. 

As with most tricky pastoral questions, distinctions prove helpful. Ever since Augustine, the tradition has distinguished between two different kinds of evil: “Fault (culpa) is the evil we do, but punishment (poena) is the evil we suffer” (De lib. arb., bk. 1, ch. 1). Aquinas inherits this distinction, differentiating broadly between the evil of fault (malum culpae), e.g., sin and guilt, and the evil of punishment (malum poenae), or defects of “form or integrity” such as sickness or poverty (De malo, q. 1, a. 4). There is, moreover, a key difference between the two kinds of evil. Whereas the evil of fault is sheer waste, contributing nothing to the good of the universe, the evil of punishment is always connected to some other creature’s flourishing. A stab wound is the consequence of steel being good steel; pandemics are the consequence of a coronavirus flourishing in its own way. The evil of punishment always takes place within an interconnected order, where creatures depend not only on God, but also on each other. As a result, one may say that the evil of punishment is not directly willed by God, but only indirectly, as the consequence of maintaining the good of order.

Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, Volume 9, Number 10, October 2020, 4p.

By George W Holden

The discipline and punishment of children by parents is among the most commonly investigated topics in developmental psychology. Discipline has long occupied a central role in views about socialization, specifically the processes by which children are taught the skills, values, and motivations to become competent adults. The types of disciplinary techniques used by parents reflect a core ingredient of those parents’ approach to child rearing. Furthermore, the particular types of disciplinary techniques used have long been related to children’s outcomes. This is true both in theoretical writings and subsequent empirical evidence. Discipline and punishment is not a simple topic to study for several reasons: there is confusion over terminology and conceptual issues, the subject matter reflects a dyadic event, embedded in larger contexts of ongoing relationships, family, and neighborhoods, as well as culture, and disciplinary practices that are determined by multiple sources and change over time are at the intersection of cognition, emotion, and behavior. Discipline occurs when there is a breakdown in child management and the child has made, in the parent’s view, a transgression. Disciplinary techniques are those methods used by parents to correct misbehavior, discourage inappropriate behavior, and gain compliance from their children. These techniques consist of a variety of actions and reactions and include such common techniques as reasoning, psychological control, coercion by threats or corporal punishment, time-outs, withdrawal of privileges, or ignoring. Some investigators focus on a group of disciplinary techniques labeled “ineffective discipline” but also called “maladaptive,” “dysfunctional,” or “inept” parenting. Such actions inadvertently reinforce misbehavior or model inappropriate behavior. Although most of the research on discipline has focused on parental punishments, attention is now being devoted to the topics of child compliance, autonomy, self-regulation, and ways of engaging children in cooperative interactions.

Reaserch Gate, 2012, 41p.

By Teodolinda Barolini

Dante’s linguistic treatise, De vulgari eloquentia, is not without joy in linguistic difference and invention. However, the treatise’s signature view of linguistic difference is its powerfully punitive account of the Tower of Babel. Linguistic diversity, aka “confusion of tongues”, is the punishment meted out to Nimrod and his followers for their presumptuous building of the Tower of Babel: thus, difference is punishment. This essay traces Dante’s evolution as he moves from De vulgari eloquentia to the encounter with Nembrot (as Dante calls Nimrod) in Inferno 31 and then to Paradiso 26. The punishment of Inferno 31 is no longer differen- tiated language but lack of language: Dante punishes Nembrot not with linguistic diversity, but by assigning him a non-language that communicates non-sense. Adam’s great discourse on linguistic creation in Paradiso 26 signals full transition: from difference as punishment to difference as pleasure.

Textual Cultures 12.1 (2019): 137–154p.

By Juan Li, Yi Liu, Zhen Wang, Haoxiang Xia

This study explores why individuals are willing to bear the cost of punishing defectors in cooperative settings, offering a new explanation: the punisher's motivation is egoistic rather than altruistic. Egoistic punishment, aimed at recovering personal losses rather than enforcing group norms, proves to be more effective in promoting cooperation across a variety of conditions. Using spatial public goods game models and both peer- and pool-punishment mechanisms, the research shows egoistic punishers can outcompete altruistic ones in promoting collective cooperation. This dynamic holds across different population structures and strategy-update rules. Particularly in pool-punishment settings, egoistic punishment functions better in high-cost, low-fine scenarios, revealing that self-interested motivations may provide a more robust foundation for sustaining public goods. By demonstrating that fairness perceived through self-interest can lead to broader cooperative outcomes, the study challenges conventional assumptions about the purely moral basis of punishment.

(Scientific Reports, 2021, Volume 11, Article Number: 6584, 13p.)

By Iqbal Ahmad, Hamdan Said, Faisal Khan

This study investigates how corporal punishment affects students’ motivation and classroom learning, focusing on secondary school teachers in Pakistan. Using a correlation design and data from 250 teachers, the authors found a significant negative relationship between corporal punishment and both motivation and learning outcomes. The research draws from psychological and educational theory to argue that such disciplinary measures not only diminish students' enthusiasm and academic performance but may also contribute to long-term emotional and behavioral issues. It recommends non-violent and supportive teaching methods to foster effective learning environments.

(Review of European Studies, Vol. 5, No. 4, 2013, pp. 130–134)

By The Justice Policy Institute

The Justice Policy Institute (JPI) has long opposed the use of solitary confinement and has collaborated with national and local partners to develop strategies to end this harmful practice across all levels of the criminal legal system. The December 2024 killing of Robert Brooks by correctional staff, followed by an unlawful work stoppage that left tens of thousands of incarcerated individuals in dangerous conditions, has brought New York State’s prison system to a crisis point. A Moment of Reckoning highlights significant concerns about violence, accountability, and the treatment of individuals in custody, offering a policy blueprint for meaningful reform. It presents concrete steps to reduce the prison population through expanded release mechanisms and to implement proven violence-prevention strategies, enhancing conditions for both incarcerated individuals and staff. Drawing on successful models from New York and other jurisdictions, this blueprint establishes a framework for creating a safer, more just prison system that upholds dignity and accountability.

Policy Blueprint

Washington, DC: The Justice Policy Institute, 2025. 34p.

By Bruce Western, Jessica Simes, and Kendra Bradner

In a given year, one in five people incarcerated in the U.S. prisons is locked in solitary confinement. We study solitary confinement along three dimensions of penal harm: (1) material deprivation, (2) social isolation, and (3) psychological distress. Data from a longitudinal survey of incarcerated men who are interviewed at baseline in solitary confinement are used to contrast the most extreme form of penal custody with general prison conditions observed at a follow-up interview. Solitary confinement is associated with extreme material deprivation and social isolation that accompanies psychological distress. Distress is greatest for those with histories of mental illness. Inactivity and feelings of dehumanization revealed in qualitative interviews help explain the distress of extreme isolation, lending empirical support to legal arguments that solitary confinement threatens human dignity.

Incarceration Volume 3(1): 1–25, 2021.

By Bruce Western, Jessica Simes, and Kendra Bradner

In a given year, one in five people incarcerated in the U.S. prisons is locked in solitary confinement. We study solitary confinement along three dimensions of penal harm: (1) material deprivation, (2) social isolation, and (3) psychological distress. Data from a longitudinal survey of incarcerated men who are interviewed at baseline in solitary confinement are used to contrast the most extreme form of penal custody with general prison conditions observed at a follow-up interview. Solitary confinement is associated with extreme material deprivation and social isolation that accompanies psychological distress. Distress is greatest for those with histories of mental illness. Inactivity and feelings of dehumanization revealed in qualitative interviews help explain the distress of extreme isolation, lending empirical support to legal arguments that solitary confinement threatens human dignity.

Incarceration Volume 3(1): 1–25, 2021.

By Jason A. Higgins

The United States has both the largest, most expensive, and most powerful military and the largest, most expensive, and most punitive carceral system in the history of the world. Since the American War in Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of veterans have been incarcerated after their military service.

Identifying the previously unrecognized connections between American wars and mass incarceration, Prisoners after War reaches across lines of race, class, and gender to record the untold history of incarcerated veterans over the past six decades. Having conducted dozens of oral history interviews, Jason A. Higgins traces the lifelong effects of war, inequality, disability, and mental illness, and explores why hundreds of thousands of veterans, from Vietnam to Afghanistan, were caught up in the carceral system. This original study tells an intergenerational history of state-sanctioned violence, punishment, and inequality, but its pages also resonate with stories of survival and redemption, revealing future possibilities for reform and reparative justice.

Amherst; Boston: University of Massachusetts Press, 2024.

By Eric Petterson

The United States of America incarcerates nearly two million people, more than any other country in the world, at a rate of 565 people per 100,000 residents.1 Just fifty years ago, the incarceration rate was ninety-seven imprisoned people per 100,000 residents in the general population.2 The rate of incarceration increased over 500% in fifty years. Many scholars and criminal justice reform advocates cited these statistics while advocating for the need to end the War on Drugs.3 The need for criminal justice reform to address mass incarceration has grown in popularity; however, many people focus on the War on Drugs to the exclusion of other issues in the criminal legal system, even though only twenty percent of the incarcerated population is incarcerated on drug charges.4 In contrast, nearly half of all people imprisoned in prisons and jails are imprisoned for violent offenses.5 Releasing all drug offenders would still not solve America’s overincarceration problem. Since four out of five incarcerated people are behind bars for non-drug related offenses, we must address how America punishes other crimes to end mass incarceration. Too often, states implementing criminal justice reforms exclude violent offenses, focusing instead on people convicted of nonserious, nonviolent, and nonsexual offenses—or “non, non, nons.”6 The staggering number of violent crime incarcerations is not due to the crime-rate, but to the overly long sentences given to people convicted of violent crimes.7 Many crimes defined as “violent” in the criminal legal system do not involve any physical harm, including purse snatching, manufacturing methamphetamine, burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, and stealing drugs.8 Yet violent offense convictions result in severe repercussions, including triggering mandatory minimums and three-strikes laws.9 Addressing “non, non, non”10 offenses is politically easier to do than addressing violent offenses, but both must be addressed to end mass incarceration. This Article will examine America’s unique use of extremely harsh and lengthy prison sentences and how these sentencing policies contributed to the rise of mass incarceration. First, this Article will examine the history of prisons and sentencing policy. It will explore how sentencing policy, “tough on crime” politics, and the mass media contributed to the rise of mass incarceration. Next, this Article will discuss how America’s overreliance on extremely lengthy sentences makes us an outlier to the rest of the world. This Article will examine the literature on incarceration and lengthy sentences, arguing that lengthy sentences are not effective because they do not effectively deter crime, do not promote public safety, do not prevent reoffending, are unnecessary because people age out of crime, and are not favored by crime victims. It will propose reducing the lengths of sentences and shortening sentences based on the good behavior of incarcerated people. Lastly, this Article will propose a political messaging framework to promote criminal justice reforms.

55 St. Mary's L.J. 475 (2024), 37p.