Justice

==Instrumental theories of justice==
[[File:Justicia Ottawa.jpg|thumb|right|[[Walter Seymour Allward]]'s ''Justitia'' (Justice), outside [[Supreme Court of Canada]], [[Ottawa, Ontario]] [[Canada]]]]
Instrumental theories of justice look at the consequences of [[punishment]] for wrongdoing, looking at questions such as:
# ''why'' punish?
# ''who'' should be punished?
# ''what'' punishment should they receive?
In broad terms, ''utilitarian'' theories look forward to the future consequences of punishment, ''retributive'' theories look back to particular acts of wrongdoing and attempt to match them with appropriate punishment, and ''restorative'' theories look at the needs of victims and society and seek to repair the harms from wrongdoing.

===Utilitarianism===
According to the utilitarian, justice requires the maximization of the total or average welfare across all relevant individuals. Punishment fights crime in three ways:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Punishment {{!}} Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://iep.utm.edu/punishme/ |access-date=2023-10-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>
# ''[[Deterrence (legal)|Deterrence]]''. The credible [[coercion|threat]] of punishment might lead people to make different choices; well-designed threats might lead people to make choices that maximize welfare. This matches some strong [[intuition]]s about just punishment: that it should generally be proportional to the crime.
# ''[[Rehabilitation (penology)|Rehabilitation]]''. Punishment might make "bad people" into "better" ones. For the utilitarian, all that "bad person" can mean is "person who's likely to cause unwanted things (like suffering)". So, utilitarianism could recommend punishment that changes someone such that they are less likely to cause bad things.
# ''[[Incapacitation (penology)|Security/Incapacitation]]''. Perhaps there are people who are irredeemable causers of bad things. If so, [[Prison|imprisoning]] them might maximize welfare by limiting their opportunities to cause harm and therefore the benefit lies within protecting society.
So, the reason for punishment is the maximization of welfare, and punishment should be of whomever, and of whatever form and severity, are needed to meet that goal. This may sometimes justify punishing the innocent, or inflicting disproportionately severe punishments, when that will have the best consequences overall (perhaps executing a few suspected [[Shoplifting|shoplifters]] live on television would be an effective deterrent to shoplifting, for instance). It also suggests that punishment might turn out ''never'' to be right, depending on the facts about what actual consequences it has.<ref>C.L. Ten, 'Crime and Punishment' in Peter Singer ed., ''A Companion to Ethics'' (Oxford: [[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell Publishing]], 1993): 366–372.</ref>

===Retributivism===
The retributivist argues that consequentialism is wrong, as it argues that all guilty individuals deserve appropriate punishment, based on the conviction that punishment should be proportional to the crime and for all the guilty.<ref>{{cite web |title=Punishment |url=https://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gaskilld/ethics/punishment.htm |website=California State University |access-date=12 August 2020 |archive-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413204529/https://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gaskilld/ethics/punishment.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, it is sometimes said that retributivism is merely [[revenge]] in disguise.<ref>Ted Honderich, ''Punishment: The supposed justifications'' (London: Hutchinson & Co., 1969), Chapter 1.</ref> However, there are differences between retribution and revenge: the former is impartial and has a scale of appropriateness, whereas the latter is personal and potentially unlimited in scale.<ref>{{cite web |title=Retribution vs Revenge - What's the difference? |date=9 October 2015|url=https://wikidiff.com/retribution/revenge}}</ref>

===Restorative justice===
{{Main|Restorative justice}}

Restorative justice is a justice approach that prioritizes the needs of victims and offenders, focusing on their needs rather than abstract legal principles. It encourages active participation from victims and encourages offenders to take responsibility for their actions, leading to higher satisfaction rates.

Restorative justice fosters dialogue between victim and offender shows the highest rates of victim satisfaction and offender accountability.<ref>Michael Braswell, and John Fuller, ''Corrections, Peacemaking and Restorative Justice: Transforming Individuals and Institutions'' (Routledge, 2014).</ref>

===Mixed theories===
Some modern philosophers have said that Utilitarian and Retributive theories are not mutually exclusive. For example, [[Andrew von Hirsch]], in his 1976 book ''Doing Justice'', suggested that we have a moral obligation to punish greater crimes more than lesser ones.<ref>Andrew Von Hirsch, ''Doing Justice: The Choice of Punishments'' (Lebanon NH: Northeastern Univ. Press, 1976). {{ISBN|9780930350833}}</ref> However, so long as we adhere to that constraint then utilitarian ideals would play a significant secondary role.