Severity vs certainty

[kana_marie]

I think this is my favorite debate. Hypothetically: people keep running a certain stop sign in a college area with people crossing the road pretty often. In order to make it stop they decide on one of two options... 1) put up cameras. Anyone who runs it WILL get a 25$ ticket. And you will definitely get caught.

or 2) you will oonly get caught if a cop happens to be around. However if you get caught you will automatically get the death penalty.

which scenario is more likely to keep you from running the stop sign? Is the certainty of the punishment or the severity of the punishment a better deterant?

 

[bala]

The severity of punishment is a better deterrent in my perception.The offence on whatever scale might it be,if the punishment runs deep through and inflicts a damage on the offender,he will be scared to do it again,in turn a deterrent in its cause.

 

[thegrey1]

I love this! I have never seen it before. Definitely the severity is more of a deterrent by far! This is an interesting argument re. how punishment does or does not deter crime.

 

[Rainman]

Most people like gambling. If there's even the remotest possibility that they won't get caught then they might break the law anyway especially if they are sure no one is watching. For that reason, I think the certainty of punishment will be a more effective deterrence if penalties are escalated for repeat offenders.

 

[Gabe]

People tend to take chances and most would not expect the death penalty to go ahead and would take a chance. For it to be a real deterrent it has to be reasonable and possible and I doubt people would take the second option seriously.

 

[Josie]

People don't do things thinking they will get caught. Either way, it's not the fact that it would work, it's the fact it would be carried through and that's a sick abuse of power. Fix the country first.. less will feel the need to commit crimes.

Just like doctors.. all about the symptoms of the real problem.

 

[JoanMcWench]

The death penalty. However, we live in a world where everything is disputable so I doubt anyone anywhere would stand for killing a citizen because they ran a stop sign. There's too many ways to get out of that.

 

[kana_marie]

If they start handing out the death penalty it'll be a sure sign SOMETHING went wrong lol. The scenario is just intended to put the question into terms that are easy for everyone to be able to think about the question in a way everybody can relate to. It really boils down to: is the certainty or the severity of punishment more likely to deter you from commuting a particular act? You can really change the scenario to anything you want to make it easier to swallow. I used that scenario because that's the one that was given to me

 

[missbishi]

I'm not sure what the best option would be. After all, the death penalty doesn't stop people from committing murder so I can't see how it would stop people taking the risk of running the stop sign. I think that the certainty of a $25 fine would prevent me from doing this though.

 

[Josie]

I totally understand why the scenario was chosen, I just chose to skip to the reality lol. Stop sign or murder, if I feel the need to do something so bad that I will risk rape in prison for the rest of my days, I'm sure death isn't sounding so bad lol. You forget that plenty of people in jail felt they had no choice or felt jail was a better option and I bet plenty don't fear death or feel it's better than their current situation. Then there are those who will face worse punishment on the streets. Not everyone responds to punishment the same way.. everyone's "hell" looks different.

 

[kana_marie]

I have tried to think about it in realistic terms but I don't know which one is a better deferent for me. It's so easy to doing something without thinking because you don't believe you'll get caught... just like with a majority of murder. I guess it's more realistic for me to say,"that 25$ is going to add up".

 

[dyanmarie25]

Personally, I think the severity punishment is a better deterrent. Who would ever cross that road, if anytime, there's a possibility that you will get caught, and much worse, also be sentenced to death?

 

[shilpa123]

I have never come across such rules before. I like the first one more as it seems very appropriate. I think it is great in that way.

 

[Strykstar]

I think certainty would be very effective as well, the guaranteed $25 fine would be enough to make most people stop.
Of course rich people could just pay it every day without even thinking about it, but in that case, only the severity of the other option would make them stop...