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Definition.com

Punishment is a non-utilitarian, objectiveless institution that, despite itself, is functional in that it produces an automatic solidarity.

Definition.com

Punishment is a cruel and useless substitute for the elimination of those conditions-- poverty, unemployment, homelessness, desperation, racism, greed-- which are at the root of most punished crime. The crimes of the rich and powerful go mostly unpunished.

Definition.com

Punishment is a phenomenon that has progressed with the division of labor such that the overseer's book of penalties replaces the slave-drivers lash. Punishment resolves into economic punishment.

Definition.com

Punishment is a strange doctrine: The essence of political power, though unstable power which always carries with it an excessive quality, the right to punish transgressors and the obligation never to harm another person.

Definition.com

Punishment is about power and social control. The elite utilize punishment to its best effect in a tactical manner to control the population and maintain order and their own power.

Definition.com

Punishment is a complex social function which must be examined not only through its negative aspects but also for its useful effect in the history of the human sciences.