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Library Resources for CJ521

Rationales for Punishment

For this assignment you will explore the three rationales in the context of correctional approaches, systems, or practices.

Your paper should:

  • Define punishment

  • Discuss how each of the following rationales apply to punishment

           Retribution

           Utilitarianism

           Incapacitation

  • Identify which rationale is most widely used in criminal justice today

The suggested keywords below can be tried on the Find page of this guide or in the Library database ProQuest. 

  • correctional approaches to punishment
  • criminal punishment theories
  • correctional system retribution theory
  • correctional system utilitarianism theory
  • correctional system incapacitation theory

For a general overview of each punishment theory, search within the Library database Credo Reference. Below is a screenshot of the results searching the keyword retribution:

Credo search example

Need more reference sources?  Gale eBooks provides 1,200 nonfiction e-books on business, health, law, and more within a single search. Result lists highlight entries from encyclopedias and other nonfiction reference books so you can go directly to the information you need. Great for explanations and background research!