The goals of punishment

The main aims of punishment as per the Criminal Justice System in the U.S. include deterrence, rehabilitation, retribution, restitution, and incapacitation (Creative Commons, 2015). Deterrence limits the occurrence of crime in future by provoking fear in an individual and the public. Deterrence may be either specific or general. Specific deterrence involves a defendant whereby after the government punishes an individual, the individual refrains from committing the crime to prevent being subjected to similar punishment. General deterrence consists of the public and functions on the basis that the public refrains from committing a crime due to the fear of the implications associated with the punishment accorded to a defendant. Incapacitation entails separating a defendant that he or she is away from the society as a strategy for preventing the occurrence of crime in future. Some of the methods used to incapacitate defendants include house arrest, capital punishment, and incarceration. Rehabilitation limits the occurrence of crime in future by changing the behavior of the convict. Some of the methods for rehabilitation include counseling, placement in treating facilities, including vocational and educational plans. Retribution limits the occurrence of crime in future by eliminating the need for revenging against the accused. Restitution involves preventing the occurrence of crime in future by punishing the accused from a financial perspective (Creative Commons, 2015).
From an individual perspective, the various models have implications especially when it comes to issues such as incapacitating an innocent individual, rehabilitation being only effective when the individual volunteers to change his or her habit and so forth.

A criminal justice system which is rational and effective is what is required in the society. Materni (2013) describes this system as the one that encourages deterrence, enhances rehabilitation, and maintains incapacitation. The system also punishes individuals who commit crimes and hence making it necessary to consider backward-looking regarding retribution (Materni, 2013). Such a system can be viewed as justifiable in terms moral grounds.

The Goals of Punishment

References
Creative Commons. (2015). Criminal Law. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing Retrieved from http://open.lib.umn.edu/criminallaw/chapter/1-5-the-purposes-of-punishment/.
Materni, M.C. (2011). Criminal Punishment and the Pursuit of Justice. Journal of American Legal Studies, 2, 263-299. Retrieved from https://hls.harvard.edu/content/uploads/2011/09/michele-materni-criminal-punishment.pdf.