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Introduction Within the English legal system there are four main theories of punishment; retribution, deterrence, incapacitation and rehabilitation. The retributive theory looks back to the crime and punishes because of the crime. The remaining three all look forward to the consequences of punishment and thereby hope to achieve a reduction in crime. They are therefore often termed consequentialist or utilitarian theories. The boundaries between these theories are far from clear, containing sub-categories, many of which …

…take place within the confines of the system based primarily on proportionality. Why do we punish 13 Conclusion The main purpose of punishment is that criminals receive their just deserts. This may, obviously, have the desirable effect of stimulating law-abiding conduct and discouraging crime (educative deterrence). Moreover, this may enable the sentencer to incapacitate the dangerous and hopefully even reform them. However, these later aims are merely welcome by-products of the central retributive function of punishment.