Similarities and Differences Between General and Specific Deterrence
Crime in America has become a normal part of everyday life. There have been ongoing discussions on crime control and possible policies that could slow down crime in America. However, when it comes to slowing down the willingness to commit crime, there are two theories that have had a significant impact on the reduction of crime. The two theories are Specific Deterrence and General Deterrence. Specific deterrence focuses on the individual, while general deterrence focuses on the general public. While each specific and general deterrence has a different focus, the overall purpose of these theories are preventing crime.
Using the knowledge that you have gained from this week’s reading assignments, Intellipath and MUSE assets, and other information provided, address the following questions in a 2-3 page paper:
Identify and discuss the similarities and differences between general deterrence and specific deterrence.
Using the resources and materials provided this week in class, discuss a criminal case that best explains each theory.
Provide your opinion on whether you believe these theories work at preventing future crimes.
While it is not necessary to provide complete citations in an APA format, your paper should include URLs and titles for any information used to support your position.
You can use this template to help plan and write your paper: CRJS220 Unit 1 Individual Project Template
Crime Deterrence Theories: Specific and General
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Introduction
Crime deterrence is the process of preventing potential offenders from engaging in criminal activities by instilling fear of punishment. Deterring crimes falls under two theories, specific and general deterrence. Specific deterrence instills fear in individuals who engage in criminal acts by punishing them hence changing their decisions on committing more crimes thus preventing crimes. General deterrence instills fear by punishing criminals in the presence of the public, ideally, the offender becomes an illustration to others (Trang & Brendel, 2019). This paper analyzes the two theories’ similarities and differences and how they aid in crime reduction using varying approaches that focus on differing aspects that influence criminal activities and their effectiveness.
Similarities Between Specific and General Crime Deterrence
The theories, however, are similar in ways, for instance, both target potential offenders and formulate ways of influencing them from engaging in criminal acts hence preventing crimes from happening. Also, instilling fear of punishment in offenders by linking criminal acts with negative consequences that hinder them from taking part (Johnson, 2019). Third, both theories utilize the criminal justice system as a guide to punishing and penalizing criminal acts as a warning to potential offenders. The theories follow factors such as risk perception and how severe punishment is to prevent people from breaking the law.
Differences Between Specific and General Crime Deterrence
Consequently, the theories differ in many aspects of a target audience, the scope, and how punishment is applied. Mainly, the difference relays the message in a different manner, a specific deterrence the consequences of the punishment are experienced on an individual level, whereas in general deterrence the punishment of the offender is exposed to the public impacting the community. Therefore, the scope for a general deterrence is considered to be wide with a primary goal of influencing the decision of other potential offend...