ABSTRACT
The term ‘punishment’ is capable of several defi nitions: it has been referred to as ‘crime-handling’ (Fatic´, 1995) although its meaning is often restricted to measures which are unpleasant and which are deliberately intended to infl ict pain on an offender (Christie, 1982) in response to an offence that he or she has committed. In this latter context it has been defi ned as ‘the deliberate use of public power to infl ict pain on offenders’ (Andrews, 2003: 128). It has further been suggested that the pain that is infl icted should be an essential part of what is intended rather than being an unintended consequence arising from the state’s intervention (Benn and Peters, 1959).
