ABSTRACT
Answer Plan This question involves discussion of the thorny issue of how the punishment of the individual offender is to be justified. The discussion should mention the views of
important philosophers such as Kant and Bentham and the main philosophical basis of punishment. There are four general justifications for punishment that vary in weight: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation and incapacitation. The soundest theory of punishment may involve an amalgam of two or more principles of punishment.
