Week 4 – Discussion 1

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Corrections: The   Philosophy of Criminal Sanctions

There are four main philosophies behind criminal sanctions:  retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation.

1. Students whose last names begin      with the letters A – E: Define retribution. What is the history behind the      use of retribution? What is the philosophy behind the use of retribution as      a criminal sanction?
2. Students whose last names begin      with the letters F – J: Define deterrence. What is the history behind the      use of deterrence? What is the philosophy behind the use of retribution as      a criminal sanction?
3. Students whose last names begin      with the letters K – O: Define incapacitation. What is the history behind      the use of incapacitation? What is the philosophy behind the use of      incapacitation?
4. Students whose last names begin      with the letters P – Z: Define rehabilitation. What is the history behind      the use of rehabilitation? What is the philosophy behind the use of      rehabilitation?

What do you think is the best criminal sanction philosophy? Why? Make sure to substantiate your reasons with cited facts.

Guided Response: Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and/or scholarly (Links to an external site.) resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7. Responses to your peers should be at least 100 words in length. Also, ask at least one question of additional information you would like about your peer’s initial posting.

Next, respond to your peers’ responses to you! This is unlike the other discussions for this course in that you must respond to those who have responded to you. Simply respond to their follow-up question in a complete and substantial way. It is then the responsibility of each student to answer the question asked of you in the “secondary response.” If, for some reason, you are not asked a question in a secondary response by day six, you may answer a question that someone asked to another one of your classmates. Remember that this is a discussion. If a classmate or your instructor asks you a question, it is your responsibility to respond.