[really3452]

"Deterrence in relation to criminal offending is the idea or theory that the threat of punishment will deter people from committing crime and reduce the probability and/or level of offending in society." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deterrence_(penology)

So, punishment as a deterrent is currently a theory.

[Cpoll]

> Theory

I want to reply to wickedsickeune below, "Gravity is also a theory," but I think the thread's hit max-depth.

The word "theory" in the context of Deterrence_(penology) is not the same as the word "theory" in "theory of Gravity." The _Theory_ of Gravity refers to a model or explanation that follows from observed facts.

Deterrence, according to the Wikipedia page, doesn't fit that definition of the word.

> Despite numerous studies using a variety of data sources, sanctions, crime types, statistical methods and theoretical approaches, there remains little agreement in the scientific literature about whether, how, under what circumstances, to what extent, for which crimes, at what cost, for which individuals and, perhaps most importantly, in which direction do various aspects of contemporary criminal sanctions affect subsequent criminal behavior.

[antsar]

(Off-topic) It's sometimes (always?) possible to reply despite the missing "reply" button. Click the timestamp of the post to see it on its own page. That page seems to have a reply button even when the thread does not.

[Cpoll]

Thanks for this comment! I realized I was missing something when I got a reply (with my post being at the same depth as the one I couldn't reply to).

[dkersten]

> Deterrence, according to the Wikipedia page, doesn't fit that definition of the word.

Yes, because the word "theory" was used erroneously. Saying that its currently a hypothesis would have been better.

[dragonwriter]

> Yes, because the word "theory" was used erroneously. Saying that its currently a hypothesis would have been better.

No, it was used correctly; “theory” has definitions other than those in the context of empirical science and the use of “hypothesis” would have been at least as wrong as the scientific sense of “theory”.

[wickedsickeune]

Gravity is also a theory. The word "theory" scientifically, does not mean "idea". It means a rigorously tested and researched collection of co-related ideas that reinforce each other. Do not use it to dismiss something's value.

[really3452]

> The word "theory" scientifically, does not mean "idea". It means a rigorously tested and researched collection of co-related ideas

@wickedsickeune

That is how I meant it. I posted that to refute @maxheadroom's comment:

> A proven deterrent? Do you have any facts to back-up your posit?

[dragonwriter]

> So, punishment as a deterrent is currently a theory.

The use of “theory” in that sentence is not in the scientific sense; it is a philosophical rather than a predictive model. (There are predictive models of deterrence, some of which might be theories, or perhaps hypotheses, in the scientific sense, but that's not what the quote is discussing.)