> I hope, and, actually, expect, that you recognize that " the
> deterrent effect
> of punishment" is quite complex, and that there are many people and
> situations
> in which it doesn't apply in any way as coherent as the one you
> describe. Some
> of what Carrol may be reacting to is the mindless belief of many
> Americans that
> " the deterrent effect of punishment" will prevent much of the
> violent and
> harmful antisociality that is very common in the US, much of which
> gets called
> "crime." Obviously I recognize that "crime" gets defined in a class-
> and
> race-discriminatory way. It is nonetheless true that much of the
> "crime" that
> gets punished is harmful and dangerous. But the motives of the
> perpetrators are
> often so complex, unconscious, and contradictory that mere
> punishment is not a
> consideration on their horizon. My own work, which brings me into
> frequent
> contact with child abusers, for example, convinces me that
> punishment has
> little rôle in influencing them.
Albert Camus said, in "Reflections on the Guillotine," that a perpetrator will fear punishment after the verdict but not before the crime. He also quoted Francis Bacon saying that there's no passion so weak that it cannot confront and overpower the fear of death. Most people who commit a violent crime don't factor in what the state will do to them if caught, they just plan not to get caught. And that's if they even think about it at all. As I understand it, most of those responsible for violent crimes don't know they're going to kill even an hour before they do so, much less engage in some cost-benefit analysis of their behavior and its consequences.
-- Shane
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