Premium Essay

Competing Theories

In: Social Issues

Submitted By RUTHLTE
Words 1428
Pages 6
Competing Theories of Corrections
Ruth Cushman
American Intercontinental University
March 11, 2012

Competing Theories of Corrections Correctional theories are series of interrelated propositions or assertions that attempt to describe, explain, predict, and define criminal behavior. There are many different theories that have been created over the years to help explain the relationships between criminal behavior and punishment. The theories of corrections have no doubt changed and shifted over the years, the more people began to understand the rationale behind criminal behavior. Several centuries ago, criminal behavior was once thought to sin guided by the devil or evil spirits, and most often was punished by hanging, beheading, or burning the offender. Then, around the time of the American and French revolutions offenders began to be seen more as highly rational beings who intentionally chose their own courses of action (Schmalleger, 2012). Contemporary sentencing stems mainly from the Classical School theory. This theory stated that criminality, rather than being caused by evil or some higher beings, was actually the result of the bad choices people make of their own free will. The other competing theories of corrections besides the Classical School, prevalent in today’s prison system are retribution, deterrence, restorative justice, and rehabilitation. According to the Classical School theory, the punishment should fit the crime equally. Meaning, that the punishment a person is given should equally fit the seriousness of the crime committed, and not be more extreme such as hanging or burning someone. Someone who steals should not be burned at the stake, because the punishment does not fit the seriousness of the crime. The need for punishment is still there, but it is just applied more rationally.

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Olmec's Competing Theories

...The ancient "Olmec’s" of Mexico and Mesoamerica are one of the most intriguing civilizations of the Americas. In fact, they are the first civilization in Mexico and it was from them that all other civilizations in Mesoamerica followed. There society emerged from around 1200 B.C. to about 400 and they settled in the forests, savannas, and rivers of the Gulf of Mexico. Yet, the theories of the Olmec’s origins strike a controversy that’s baffling between many scholars. Studies done by researchers such as Ivan Van Sertima have presented evidence that identifies the Olmec’s with the Mandé people of West Africa. According to Betty Meggers of the Smithsonian Institution the Olmec civilization originated due to Shang Chinese influences around 1200 BC. The ancient Olmec’s of Mexico and Central America were a fascinating people. Upon the discovery of colossal stone heads in Mexico during the early part of the twentieth Century, there was no doubt that the facial features and hair texture (including cornrows) represented in the colossal Olmec sculpture represented African people. The assertion that the Olmec came from Africa is supported with scientific evidence via genetics, writings, religion, language and archaeology. To elaborate, the Olmec’s were not Indians with "baby faces," or Indians who looked like Blacks. They were Africans no different from Africans found in the Mende regions of West Africa. Studies done by Ivan Van Sertima show that the Olmec’s used the Mende script, a writing...

Words: 506 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Competing Theories of Corrections

...The Steps to a Search Warrant Landry Nesmith AIU Online 08/05/12 The way that I look at the way that the government issue and exercise a search warrant it relatively fair and the reason why I say that because for the most part the police have numerous of searching for evidence and that is done to protect the rights of the suspect and the officers. The fourth amendment played a major role in the many laws set up to issue and executes a search warrant. The fourth amendment is set up to protect a person so that their homes, land private property and personal belonging are not violated during a search. In some cases a search warrant cannot be issued without a warrant and the reason is because a judge or higher law maker must issues the warrant based on information of visible evidence presented by a police officer or lawyer. In some cases a search warrant is not needed because of probable cause. This can mean that someone saw or know of information that may lead to an arrest and it can visibly be seen in plain sight. The court system must also think about a person’s personal privacy also because sometimes a person make feel as though their rights are being intruded a pond and can in some cases file complaints against the court or law makers that intruded on their rights. A search warrant can also be issued based on officer’s reasonable suspensions meaning that if an officer sees something that looks suspicious than he may legally conduct a personal search if he thinks that...

Words: 1227 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Competing Theories of the Origin of Life on Earth

...A Summary of the Three (3) Current Competing Theories of the Origin of Life on Earth: It Arrived from an Extraterrestrial Source; It Originated as a Heterotroph; It Originated as an Autotroph. Summary of the three (3) current competing theories of the origin of life on Earth: It arrived from an extraterrestrial source; it originated as a heterotroph; it originated as an autotroph. Scientists to this day do not know how life came about on Earth. Yet, they continue to stuerwtdy many kinds of evidence and continue their research. At present there are three competing theories one how life on Earth came about. Life arrived here from an extraterrestrial source. Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius popularized the idea of panspermia in the early nineties; the concept that life arose outside the Earth and that living things were transported to Earth to seed the planet with life. According to this passage, his theory does not explain how life arose originally, even though it had little scientific support at that time. His theory has been revived and modified after gaining new evidence from the examinations of meteorites and space explorations. Organic molecules are found in many meteorites, and this suggests that life may have existed elsewhere in the solar system. An analysis of a meteorite found in Antarctica in 1996 suggested that from its chemical make up, it was a portion of Mars, also the presence of complex organic molecules and small globules resembles those found on earth....

Words: 687 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Q9) the Online Age Has Led to Competing Theories of Cultural Change. Which Do You Consider the Most Relevant to the Media, and Why?

...On the other hand social shaping says that technology is social in origin and consequence, in addition audience demand, behaviour and feedback is what determines the development in technology. Both of these views are very extreme and therefore you could say that there is a medium that lies in between the two of these theories which is that change happens due to audience demand as well as the needs - such as profit - and control of the institutions. Many theorists that look into cultural change look into areas such as change that benefits the audience, change that has positives and negatives for the audience in what media in the online age offers. However there are so many theories that offer different perspectives that it is hard to actually find one single theory that offers a complete solution or conclusion to how the media in the online age has impacted culture and people globally. Firstly if we look into the idea of utopian theories, which is the idea that the development in the online age has now started to take down obstacles for audiences which has lead to greater opportunities of them. Jenkins came up with the term ‘participatory culture’ which is the theory that amateur people are now taking part in making professional products are sharing them to an audience. Examples of this are people like Soulja boy who made a song and music video, released it on Youtube and people took notice to it, after which he got picked up by a record company and started to get recognized globally...

Words: 1492 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Jennyscy

...Assignment Assessment Guides MCD2040 Marker’s assessment of Assignment 1(a) - Annotated Bibliography The annotated bibliography should be 400 words and include: • Includes a summary of the main arguments or ideas for each of four academic sources • Includes an in-text citation (direct quote) that does the work of presenting the main argument for each academic source • Includes a critique or evaluation of each source’s usefulness to the essay question. Comments on the source’s reliability, objectivity or bias and makes a comparison with other sources reviewed • Writing and presentation style (clarity, coherence, spelling, punctuation, grammar and format presented as per guidelines detailed in Unit Outline) • Lists the correct bibliographic information for the four academic sources as per the Q Manual (i.e., complete details for the author/s, year, title, and publication) Satisfactory 1% Unsatisfactory 0 1% 0 1% 0 1% 0 1% 0 MCD2040 Marker’s assessment of Assignment 2(a) - Plan of the Group Report The plan of the report should be no more than one page long (approx 250 words) and include: • The purpose of the report • Background to the report (e.g. company information) • Sources of information • Proposed main findings • Proposed conclusions and recommendations Satisfactory 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% Unsatisfactory 0 0 0 0 0 1 MCD2040 Marker’s assessment and feedback sheet for Assignment 1 (b) – Short Essay Criteria Introduction and identification of managers’...

Words: 1365 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Postive Accounting Theory

...Introduction This paper examines the development of positive accounting theory (PAT) and compares it with three standard accounts of science. There is some confusion about what PAT is. If the definition of accounting theory (i.e., accounting theory seeks to explain and predict accounting and auditing practice) given in Watts and Zimmerman’s 1986 book is taken to mean PAT, studies of accounting choices and auditing practices constitute PAT. At the same time, they also seek to explain the economics-based empirical literature in accounting and they describe, in addition to accounting choice studies, capital market-based accounting research. They point out that Ball and Brown (1968) initially popularized positive research in accounting, suggesting that PAT includes both capital market-based accounting research and research in accounting choices. This paper takes PAT to include both research programs. This usage is consistent with Watts and Zimmerman’s (1986) assertion that when they use the term “positive” to differentiate it from “prescriptive” theory. Positive Accounting Theory and Science by M. Humayun Kabir Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand Abstract This paper examines the development of positive accounting theory (PAT) and compares it with three standard accounts of science: Popper (1959), Kuhn (1996), and Lakatos (1970). PAT has been one of the most influential accounting research programs...

Words: 6941 - Pages: 28

Premium Essay

Positive Accounting Theory

...136 Positive Accounting Theory and Science JCC Journal of CENTRUM Cathedra ™ Positive Accounting Theory and Science by M. Humayun Kabir Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand Abstract This paper examines the development of positive accounting theory (PAT) and compares it with three standard accounts of science: Popper (1959), Kuhn (1996), and Lakatos (1970). PAT has been one of the most influential accounting research programs during the last four decades. One important reason which Watts & Zimmerman (1986) have used to popularize and legitimize their approach is that their view of accounting theory is the same as that used in science. Thus, it is important to examine how far accounting has been successful in imitating natural science and how the development of PAT compares with the three standard accounts of science. This paper shows that accounting could not emulate the success of natural science. Further, the methodological positions of PAT conform to none of the standard accounts of science. Rather, PAT contains elements of all three. Finally, this paper identifies some methodological gaps in PAT. Keywords: Positive Accounting Theory, Philosophy of Science, Methodological Controversies Acknowledgements I would like to thank two anonymous reviewers of the journal for their helpful comments. Earlier versions of this paper benefited from comments from Lee Parker of the University of South Australia, Keith...

Words: 9637 - Pages: 39

Free Essay

Kuhn's Challenge of the Logical Positivism Viewpoint

...Kuhn's Challenge of the Logical Positivism Viewpoint In Kuhn's book, he argues that there are three phases to the scientific discipline. The first is immature science. It does not yet have a paradigm, consisting of many competing schools who all hold a small bit of truth and are trying to prove why their theory has more merit than the others. Once the paradigm is adopted however, the discipline can move into normal science. Much of the experiments and work done is correcting measurements, trying to uphold the current paradigm, and seeking out new experiments and data that must exist according to the paradigm. Kuhn then explains the third phase, scientific revolution. This is when the previous paradigm is overturned and replaced by a new paradigm. He explains that revolutionary science is vastly different than normal science. Normal science is about forcing nature to fit scientific theories, instead of the other way around. Normal science is also engrossed in collecting new data, experiments, theories, and puzzle pieces that will support a certain theory. He explains that revolutions are brought about as a crisis in the science field. The revolutions are total and completely replace a previous paradigm. They are usually sudden and unpredictable, brought on by a puzzle piece that just doesn't fit the rest of the pieces. He explains that complexity is a requisite for change in his quote, “Given a particular discrepancy, astronomers were invariably able to eliminate it by making...

Words: 665 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Introduction to Personality

...analyze the factors that may influence the person’s personality development. When a person comes from a huge family, this also helps us defines us as whom we are as individuals as well as us creating our own personality in us to help us be who we are. Define Personality “Physical, mental, emotional, as well as social characteristics of an individual” is defined as personality. So what this basically means is that no two people are the same, not even twins or triplets. Because you can either have a good twin as well as a bad twin. The same theory goes along with someone who has triplets. As the baby is conceived each child begins to have a different personality. They take the personality that they developed and take it with them all the way through adulthood. There are three different types of theories. The Psychodynamic theory is based on a person’s wants and desires (McLeod, 2007). The second type of theory is Humanistic/existential theory which is the...

Words: 1245 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Science

...Intelligent Design is somewhat based off the existences or occurrences that have not yet been explained by man. This thought process is undoubtedly contradictory to Darwinism theories on evolution. Dr. Bawazar’s theories are based on research which, “aims to utilize droplet microfluidics to advance studies of solution-based mineralization and to develop new biomimetic materials engineering strategies… inspired by living organisms, such as bones, teeth, and seashells.” (www.youtube.com). Regardless if Dr. Bawazar’s theories on genetic evolution prove to be true in the future, I believe that “research” aspect alone is more closely rooted with Intelligent Design because there is an unknown, or from religious views a “supernatural” element involved with his process. On the other side of the spectrum, Charles Darwin’s (Darwinism) theories are engrained by the scientific process of natural selection. As Edward Wilson writes in Intelligent Evolution, natural selection “states simply that if a population of organisms contains multiple hereditary variants in some trait, and if one of these variants succeeds in contributing more offspring to the next generation than the other variants, the overall composition of the population changes, and evolution has occurred.” (The Norton Reader, pg 950). Given Darwin’s theory of natural selection, there is no way that Intelligent Design can fit into the equation. As Wilson goes onto explain, “Many who accept the fact of evolution cannot, however...

Words: 721 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Chem Lab Report

...1.) A scientific theory is a widely accepted and both highly tested and proven explanation based on observable phenomenon that occurs in nature. Scientific theories are supported by a large amount of evidence. On the other hand, a hypothesis is an explanation for a scientific question, but is easily testable and falsifiable. A prediction is a guess of what will happen when conducting an experiment, but a hypothesis establishes a relationship that helps to explain how the conductor of the study came up with his/her prediction. For example, a prediction would be “salt is dissolvable in water”, and a hypothesis would be “the polar water molecules will separate the ionic NaCl compound causing the salt to dissolve.” If the predictions are accurate, the hypothesis is supported. Hypotheses that are useful for explaining the natural world are easily testable, falsifiable, and parsimonious. When proposing an explanation for why something happens in the natural world, the explanation (hypothesis) must not be ambiguous or difficult to test/prove. A hypothesis that would not be useful for explaining the natural world would be “dogs hate cats because cats resemble predators that walked the earth millions of years ago” because it is not falsifiable. There would be no way one could set up a study to either prove or disprove the hypothesis. A hypothesis that would be useful for explaining the natural world would be “tumors are caused by the build-up of certain radioactive molecules”...

Words: 1048 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Fdi Foreign Direct Investment

...School 2012/13 Academic Year Unit: International Business Theory and Practice (5Q5Z0047) Unit Leader Dr Sougand Golesorkhi ASSIGNMENT BRIEF Submission Date: Wednesday 23th January 2013 Weighting: 40% of the total mark for the Unit Form: The assignment should be prepared in the style of a formal Academic Paper Structure of the Academic Paper Abstract This is to summarise and highlight the main findings that include an evaluation of main points and suggestions of better alternatives, recommendations, policy and/or managerial implications. Theoretical background This section should contain an introduction, and a focused literature review relating to relevant themes and topics. It should also establish the theoretical framework in which the paper is situated. Empirical evidence and data analysis This section should start to develop the arguments that you wish to make. It will present and draw upon relevant case study materials and other appropriate forms of evidence and commentary. Data should support your arguments and highlight examples of theory in real-world practice. You should aim to explain the relevance (to the subject area and your line of argument) of any examples deployed. Interpretation and discussion This section provides an opportunity for you to expand upon your argument by analyzing and interpreting relevant data, evidence and commentary. Here you should compare various competing strands of argumentation (where relevant), and provide a...

Words: 1117 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Personality

...Personality Joseph Torres PSY 405: Theories of Personality March 17, 2014 Sarah Lind University of Phoenix Personality Psychology of personality is the study of personality, which a person’s differences distinguishes him or her from others. Defining personality becomes difficult because of the many aspects that are included. The word theory tends to be confused with other words like hypothesis or philosophy, which many factors can affect a person’s personality. There are different theories that assist psychologists in determining how or why a person develops characteristics and traits. Without a clear understanding, personality will continue to be a focus for psychological research and theories. Personality Definition The term “personality” in the Latin reference means persona, which is like a mask an actor, wears in shows during the Greek or Roman performances (Feist & Feist, 2006). The actor superimposes his or her persona to establish an appearance in the characters plot. During modern day, personality has a separation from false appearances in regards to behavior that is observable. Personality tends to describe the characteristics or traits of people. There are consistencies of behaviors that traits take account for through time, which characteristics describe the attributes of a person. An example would be a person’s intelligence of physique. A pattern of traits, which are permanent, with characteristics that are unique provide consistency to the behavior...

Words: 1340 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Work

...Aminatu Salu 1. Applied Sociology- Is a field in sociology which referred to as the practical part of sociology? It involves extensive research and application of the different sociological theories to formulate solution for the problems facing the society. 2. Functional analysis- in behavioral psychology is the application of the laws of operant conditioning to establish the relationship between stimuli and responses. 3. Class conflict- referred to as class warfare or class struggle, is the tension or antagonism which exists in society due to competing socioeconomic interests and desires between people of different classes. 4. Positivism- is a philosophy or science based on the view that information derived from logical ad mathematical treatments and report of sensory experience is the exclusive source of all authoritative knowledge and that there is valid knowledge truth only in scientific knowledge. 5. Hypothesis- is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon for a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis the scientific method requires that one can test it. 6. Popular culture- is often viewed as being trivial and dumbed down in order to find consensual acceptance throughout the mainstream. 7. Macro-level analysis- is a social science term that point to the location size or scale of a research target. Level of analysis is distinct from the term unit of observation in that the former refers to a...

Words: 386 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Accounting

...Positive accounting theory (PAT) is a general term for any theory that provides descriptive information regarding the behavior of accountants. The title has been used by Watts and Zimmerman and this is largely an expansion of previous studies carried out firstly by Fama and later by Ball & Brown in the 1960’s. In looking at the apparent acceptance by politicians, firms and wide publication in academic journals PAT could easily be mistaken as being a success. A deeper analysis of the premises of PAT, its questionable scientific status, and the groups upon whom this theory has appealed to would suggest that it is flawed on many levels and is little more than an argument for deregulation and market capitalism. This opposes its claim to be a useful theory used regularly by those concerned with the effects of accounting policy on the status of the firm. The Premises of Positive Accounting Theory Positive Accounting Theory finds its roots with the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH). The EMH was developed by Fama in the 1960’s and is based on economic principles and assumes a perfect market where there is information symmetry and no transaction costs. The semi strong form of EMH argues that capital markets will reflect all information that is publicly available and it is this form that Watts and Zimmerman claim to be predominant. The EMH was used in a study performed by Ball and Brown during the same period. The Ball and Brown study rejected the argument put forward by normative theorists...

Words: 2536 - Pages: 11