ABSTRACT
Conflict resolution and traditional notions of justice Throughout our discussion, our goal has been to construct an approach to punishment that was consistent with common sense and reflected basic moral sensibilities. Have we succeeded in that regard? Common sense suggests that punishment is an unavoidable feature of social life and a necessary component of law enforcement. Our discussion of retributivism led to the conclusion that fairness requires that we treat like cases alike, that people should be held responsible only for what they could have avoided doing, and that any harm or hard treatment inflicted for wrongdoing should be in proportion to the wrong committed. Our discussion of utilitarian or forward-looking views of punishment suggested that punishment should be imposed only where it could be shown to have beneficial consequences.
