The short answer is when the costs of punishment in terms of utility are outweighed by the gains in utility by punishment, then we should punish.

According to utilitarian theory, we punish people because doing so creates a good in the world. Jeremy Bentham is associated with the utilitarian theory of ...

Utilitarianism is the moral theory that holds that the rightness or wrongness of an action is determined by the balance of good over evil that is produced by ...

In the utilitarian view, punishment should produce socially desirable consequences such as deterring others from committing crime, and reforming criminals.

In fact, utilitarianism is the only moral theory which can provide a firm basis for rights, including the right of innocent people not to be punished.

utilitarian and retributive. The main objective of the utilitarian theory of punishment is that it seeks to punish offenders. Such a theory aims at ...

The utilitarian theory of punishment seeks to punish offenders to discourage, or "deter," future wrongdoing. The retributive theory seeks to punish offenders ...

The utilitarian theory justifies punishment on the grounds of rehabilitation and deterrence. Ten argues that rehabilitation just doesn't work and that ...

The Utilitarianism Theory of Punishment puts forth that the fundamental objective of any penal action should be societal good.2 Along with that, there are other ...