Why do we punish criminals? One reason is to prevent more crime. Another is to exact retribution form the criminal. An overlooked reason, though, may be to send a message to the community.

The Winter 2005 Wilson Quarterly discusses the book Strange Histories by Darren Oldridge. In it, he describes how the Marquis de Sade fled to Italy in 1772 after he was sentenced to death:

[S]o the executioner beheaded an effigy instead. “The punishment of felons was important,” writes Oldridge, “but the theater of the scaffold conveyed other messages, too.”

I don’t think that the “message” being conveyed here is simply that certain crimes won’t be tolerated. Instead, I think that perhaps the “theater” of execution and punishment, being a very public and communal event that people attend, helps reinforce community norms against threats both internal and external.

Thus, public punishments are more about the community than the criminal or the crime — that’s why it would have made sense to behead an effigy where the real criminal wasn’t punished and wasn’t taught a lesson.

Beheading an effigy doesn’t deter crime by telling people what will happen to them if they transgress; on the contrary, it’s a public demonstration that one can transgress and get away. If beheading an effigy deters crime, it’s because it reinforces norms and thereby gets people to follow them voluntarily rather than by getting them to fear possible punishment.

Read More:

• Guide to Ethics and Morality
• News About Ethics
• Ethics and Culture