Hammurabi The Law Of Punishment Essay

Punishment is defined by Newman (1978) as follows: “Punishment is a pain or other unpleasant consequence that results from an offense against a rule and that is administered by others, who represent legal authority, to the offender who broke the rule”. The authority of the state of handing out punishment to the offender is one of the greatest powers which can ever be given to any entity. The difference between the state punishing an offender and an individual punishing one is that when an individual inflicts harm on a culprit, it is deemed as “coercion”, while the state’s power to punish is considered legitimate; and the reason for this legitimacy is that it is deemed that the state would function with the highest fairness, care and respect while doling out punishment.

However, when one looks at the

The penalties for violations of the laws in Hammurabi's Code, the most well known of early legal codes, were almost exclusively centered on the concept of lex talionis ("the law of retaliation") where people were punished as a form of vengeance, often by the victims themselves. This notion of punishment as vengeance or retaliation can also be found in many other legal codes from early civilizations, including the ancient Sumerian codes, the Indian Manama Dharma Astra, the Hermes Trismegistus of Egypt, and the Mosaic Code.

The philosophy for prison as punishment has changed and evolved a lot over the times. To understand the rationale for prison, it is important to first analyze the philosophies and justification for punishment, as one provides the back support for the other. There are two main theories which advocate punishment for the sake of punishment, and place their emphasis on the purpose of prisons as deterrence rather than