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It has been generally accepted that the attitude towards crime and criminal at a given time in a society represents the basic values of that society. By and large, three types of reactions are discernible in various societies. The first is a traditional reaction which regards criminal as basically depraved and dangerous person for whom infliction of punishment is the only alternative to eliminate him from normal society.
This punitive approach, however, represents the earlier stages of development of penology and no longer finds support in modern times. The second reaction treats criminal as a victim of his circumstances and a product of multiple factors operating within the society. Thus, criminal is treated as a sick person requiring therapeutic treatment.
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The third and more recent reaction to criminal is to be found in preventive approach which lays greater emphasis on eliminating conditions which are responsible for criminality in the offender. It must, however, be stated that these reactions towards criminal are со-extensive and quite often overlap one another. The difference between them is to be found in their focus of attention.
According to the principle of utilitarian hedonism, punishment should not exceed more than what is absolutely necessary to produce the desired effect on the criminal and society. For this purpose, the personality of the offender in physio-psychological terms has to be understood in the background of his social surroundings.
It has been realised that feeling of inadequacy, frustration and emotional insecurity often play a dominant role in giving rise to the criminal tendency. More recently, penological researches have evolved a new thinking on the premise that crime is a social fact and human act, therefore, the process of dealing with a criminal does not come to an end by imposing punishment on him in accordance with law.
His after-care for resocialisation and reformation is equally important. This aspect of treatment of offenders must also be taken into account while drawing up any programme for the prevention of crime and treatment of offenders.
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Recent developments in the field of penology are marked with rationalisation of punishment and emphasis on clinical method of treatment of offenders and their rehabilitation through adequate after-care measures. The utility or futility of punishment is to be judged on the basis of utilitarian principles propounded by Jeremy Bentham. Modern tendency is to treat punishment as an evil which should be used only if it serves the ends of justice.
Commenting on the desirability of punishment. Prof. H.L.A. Hart observed, “we do not live in society in order to condemn, though we may condemn in order to live.” This is indeed a sound warning to modem penologist which suggests that punishment should respond to needs of social defence. In sum, the ultimate end of penal justice is to protect and promote the welfare of the State, society and the individual.
It is now well recognised that the ultimate object of punishment prevention of crime and protection of the society. It is also widely agreed that no theory of punishment can achieve the real purpose of punishment singly. As rightly pointed out by Caldwell, punishment is an art which involves the balancing of retribution, deterrence and reformation in terms not only of the court and the offender but also of the values in which it takes place and in the balancing of these purposes of punishments, first one and then the other, receives emphasis as the accompanying conditions change.