Aim And Purpose of Punishment Under Kenya Criminal Law

THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT
This are theories that explain the purpose of punishment in criminal law
Retributive theories
Retributive or absolute theories under Kenya criminal law aim to restore the legal balance, upset by the crime. They generally take proportionality into account and consider theperpetrator's record of previous wrongdoing. They do not seek to justify punishment with reference to some future benefit which it mayachieve, so it is incorrect to describe retribution as a "purpose of punishment;" it is rather, according to this theory, the essential characteristic of punishment.

Utilitarian theories
There are three types of utilitarian or relative theory of punishment, the first two of which are deterrence and prevention. These are connected, in that the former's goal is to prevent recidivism or repeat offending. The third is reformation.

Preventive
According to the preventive theory of punishment, the purpose of punishment under Kenya criminal law is the prevention of crime. This theory can overlap with its deterrent and reformative counterparts, sinceboth deterrence and reformation may be seen merely as methods of preventing crime. On the other hand, there are other forms of punishment (such as capital punishment and life imprisonment, and the castration of sexual offenders) which are in line with the preventive purpose, but which do not necessarily serve also the aims of reformation and deterrence.

Deterrent
There is an important distinction to be made between
*.individual deterrence, which is aimed at the deterrence of a certain individual from the commission of further crimes; and
*.general deterrence, which seeks to deter the entire community from committing crimes.Individual deterrence may be said to be aimed primarily at the prevention of recidivism, or repeat offending.

Reformative
The third of the utilitarian or relative theories of punishment is the reformative theory.A reformatory approach would "benefit our society immensely by excluding the possibility of warped sentences being imposed routinely on people who do not deserve them.