Retribution, arguably the oldest of the ideologies of punishment, is a punishment that is imposed on a person as revenge or vengeance for a criminal act and is the only backward-looking philosophy of punishment. The primary goal of retribution is to ensure that punishments are proportionate, or equal, to the seriousness of the crimes committed regardless of the individual differences between the offenders and their circumstances, other than mens rea and an understanding of moral culpability. Retribution focuses on the past offense rather than the individual who offended. People committing the same crime should receive a punishment of the same type and duration that balances out the crime that was committed.

It is argued as the oldest of the main punishment ideologies because it comes from a basic concept of revenge. This concept of vengeance means that if someone perceives harm, they are within their right to retaliate at a proportional level. This idea that retaliation against a wrong is allowable has ancient roots in the concept of lex talionis, which is the law of retaliation. A person who injures someone should be punished with a similar amount of harm. This concept was developed in early Babylonian law, and around 1780 B.C.E., the Babylonian Code, or the Code of Hammurabi, was written. It is the first attempt at written laws. These laws, pictured in figure 8.1, represent a retributive approach to punishment.

The retributivist philosophy also calls for any suffering beyond what was originally intended during sentencing to be removed. This is because the dosage of punishment is the core principle of retribution: individuals who commit the same crime must receive the same punishment. The concept of retribution was violent and it laid the foundation for physical punishments to resolve the actions of another. We see this concept still applied today in the imposition of capital punishment or the death penalty. This is one form of retribution that many U.S. States and the federal government still use today to impose punishment on those who have murdered other individuals. As we continue forward in the history of punishment, we will see some changes in the perceptions of how society reacts to crime. This includes the changing views of punishment, including punishment ideologies that are more forward-looking.

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“Philosophies of Punishment” is adapted from “8.1. A Brief History of the Philosophies of Punishment”, “8.2. Retribution”, “8.3. Deterrence”, “8.4. Incapacitation”, and “8.5. Rehabilitation” by David Carter in SOU-CCJ230 Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System by Alison S. Burke, David Carter, Brian Fedorek, Tiffany Morey, Lore Rutz-Burri, and Shanell Sanchez, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Modifications by Megan Gonzalez, revisions by Roxie Supplee, licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 include editing for clarity.

Figure 8.1. “Hammurabi Code” by Marie-Lan Nguyen, Wikipedia is in the Public Domain.