ABSTRACT
All societies attempt to regulate the conduct of their members, though they may differ widely in the sorts of behavior they condemn and sanction, the mechanisms through which judgments are made, and the punishments that are meted out. For example, one society may choose to encourage large families by providing incentives for childbearing and prison terms for the use or sale of contraceptives; another society, feeling that it is important to limit population growth, may employ an exactly opposite incentive/punishment scheme. Some societies prefer informal rules enforced by family and group sanctions; others rely on detailed written codes enforced by an elaborate hierarchy of courts and prisons. The types of punishment a society deems to be appropriate may vary as widely as ostracizing the offender at the one extreme to painful forms of execution at the other.
