The Decoupling of Proportionality and Rehabilitation: Lessons from Durkheim and Beccaria

• In Event: The Rationales and Goals of Sentencing

Abstract

The associations of Beccaria with deterrence theories and Durkheim with social control theories are well established. There needs to be greater interrogation of how their views of punishment and rehabilitation are connected with modern criminal justice systems and practices. This paper compares these theorists in terms of critical points (including their views on the nature and bases of punishment, role of the state/government, key principles, and others) in order to propose an argument that Durkheim’s moral deterrence is more widely used than Beccaria’s administrative/practical deterrence. An appreciation and the value of a mixed deterrence-rehabilitation approach is largely absent in scholarly and policy circles. The implications of these comparisons for explaining and assessing criminal justice systems are explicated and detailed.

Authors

• Sanjay Marwah, California State University East Bay

• Jerry Wayne Joplin, Guilford College