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PENOLOGY[1]
SHORT NOTES
- Penology.
- Relation between criminology and penology.
- Object of penology.
I] INTRODUCTION:-
As we know, the person who commits a crime is punished on conviction. State inflicts punishment. However, punishment for the sake of punishment is not the object of inflicting punishment. Punishment is inflicted with some objects. The objects of inflicting punishment are folded, such as to protect society against the criminal, infliction of appropriate (quantum of ) punishment, reform criminals, eradicate evil, deter potential offenders, etc.,
Thus, penology is a study of various punishments and penalties provided by the state against those who commit offenses or crimes. It is a study of reactions and remedies against crimes. Therefore, there is always a need to study the penal system, its theories, kinds, appropriateness, etc.; the chief object of penology is to study ‘punishment’. It studies theories and practices of punishment.
The term ‘penology’ was first coined in 1834 by Francis Lieber, a German American. He coined the term to denote a system of administrating punishment to convict. Cesare Beccaria then contributed to Penology in 1764 by publishing his essay on ‘crimes and punishments’. It is due to the Baccaria classical school of penology that emerged. His work charged the traditional penal approach of arbitrary, inhuman, oppressive punishments with humanistic, rational, and reformative punishments. The United States first initiated the principles of penology in 1870.
II] DEFINITION OF ‘PENOLOGY’:-
We will discuss some of the definitions of penology to understand the subject properly-
- According to Francis Lieber, “Penology is that branch of criminal science which occupies itself (or ought to do so) with the punishment of the criminal”.
- Encarta Reference Library 2005 states, “Penology is the study of prisons and punishment management. It studies the theory, scientific study of, and practice of how criminals are punished, how prisoners are managed, and how rehabilitation is handled”.
- According to P.K. Sen, the eminent Indian Penologist, “Penology lays down the fundamental principles that should guide the state or the sovereign authority in forming its scheme of punishment”.
- According to Fairchild, the American Penologist, “Penology is a field of applied sociology that deals with the theory and methods of punishment of crimes.”
Thus, from the above definitions, it can be said that penology is a scientific study of the infliction of an appropriate sentence on the offender and the execution thereof. Penology includes the theories of punishment, different kinds of sentencing of persons, penal institutions, rights of prisoners and all provisions relating to correction and social reintegration of prisoners. In modern days, penology also includes victimology.
In short, penology includes in its scope the prison system, probation, parole, theories and kinds of punishments, victimology etc.,
III] Relation between ‘Criminology’ and ‘Penology’:-
The study of punishment, i.e. penology, is a sub-field of criminology. Criminologists study the theories as to why people commit crimes and deviate from society’s norms of behaviour and the methods by which society punishes the criminal (which falls under penology). Thus, according to Taft, criminology also includes penology. He defines criminology as “the study which includes all the subject matters necessary for understanding crime prevention, together with the punishment or treatment of delinquents and criminals”. Similarly, according to Mannheim, “Criminology in its widest sense involves penology, the study of punishment and problem of preventing crimes by non-punitive measures”.
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[1] शिक्षेचे शास्त्र / दंडनिति / दंडषास्त्र