Severity of Punishment
Definition
The magnitude or harshness of the penalty imposed. Classical theory holds that severity should be proportionate to harm. Modern research finds that increasing severity beyond a threshold has little additional deterrent effect.
- Classical view
- Severity proportionate to harm caused
- Modern finding
- Diminishing deterrent effect above a threshold
- Theory context
- Classical School and deterrence theory
- Related concept
- Contrasted with certainty and celerity of punishment
Common questions
Why does research find diminishing returns from harsher penalties?+
Offenders often discount future or uncertain consequences heavily, so once a penalty is already substantial, further increases add little to the perceived cost calculation that drives the decision to offend.
How does severity compare to certainty of punishment as a deterrent?+
Criminological studies generally find that certainty of being caught has a stronger deterrent effect than the severity of the eventual penalty, because certainty directly affects the offender's risk assessment at the time of the act.
Related terms
- Bounded Rationality
- The recognition, from behavioural economics and psychology, that human decision-making is rational only within limits set by available information, cognitive capacity, and...
- Certainty of Punishment
- The probability that an offence will be detected and lead to punishment. Classical theory and empirical research both identify this as the...
- Classical School
- The eighteenth-century intellectual tradition in criminology, associated with Beccaria and Bentham, that treats offenders as rational actors and argues for proportionate, certain,...
- Deterrence
- A forward-looking aim holding that the threat or experience of punishment discourages future offending. General deterrence targets potential offenders in the population;...
- Hedonistic Calculus
- Bentham's term for the rational weighing of pleasure against pain. In his framework, legislators should calibrate punishments so the pain of the...