Fundamental Penology Complete Notes 2025

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FUNDAMENTAL PENOLOGY
ONLY STUDY GUIDE FOR PEN1014

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CONTENTS
PAGE

FOREWORD .............................................................................................. (v)

SCOPE OF THIS STUDY GUIDE ................................................................... (v)

KEY TO ICONS .......................................................................................... (vi)

STUDY UNIT 1: THE FIELD OF STUDY OF PENOLOGY AND ITS RELATION
TO SOCIAL CONTROL AND THE LAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

LEARNING OUTCOMES ................................................................................. 1

1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1

2. PENOLOGY AS A SCIENCE ...................................................................... 1

3. SOCIAL CONTROL .................................................................................. 4

4. THE CONCEPT OF A RIGHT ..................................................................... 6

5. THE NATURE OF SOUTH AFRICAN LAW .................................................... 8

6. SOURCES OF SOUTH AFRICAN LAW ........................................................ 8

STUDY UNIT 2: CRIME AND THE CONCEPT OF PUNISHMENT ........................ 11

LEARNING OUTCOMES ............................................................................... 11

1. THE CONCEPT OF CRIME ...................................................................... 11

2. ELEMENTS OF THE JURIDICAL CONCEPT OF CRIME ................................ 14

3. THE CONCEPT OF PUNISHMENT ............................................................ 21

STUDY UNIT 3: THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PUNISHMENT .............. 25

LEARNING OUTCOMES ............................................................................... 25

1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 25

2. PUNISHMENT IN PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES ................................................... 25

3. THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF PUNISHMENT ................................. 32




(iii) UNISA

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PEN1014



STUDY UNIT 4: ELEMENTS AND THEORIES OF PUNISHMENT ....................... 47

LEARNING OUTCOMES ............................................................................... 47

1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 47

2. THE ELEMENTS OF PUNISHMENT .......................................................... 47

3. PUNISHMENT THEORIES ....................................................................... 52

STUDY UNIT 5: SENTENCING AND FORMS OF PUNISHMENT ........................ 71

LEARNING OUTCOMES ............................................................................... 71

1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 71

2. PRINCIPLES OF SENTENCING ................................................................ 73

3. FORMS OF PUNISHMENT DEPRIVING THE INDIVIDUAL OF HIS OR
HER LIFE: THE DEATH PENALTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

4. FORMS OF PUNISHMENT INTERFERING WITH THE INDIVIDUAL’S
FREEDOM BY RESTRICTING HIM OR HER FORM FREELY
ASSOCIATING WITH PEOPLE: IMPRISONMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

5. FORMS OF PUNISHMENT RESULTING IN THE LOSS OF
POSSESSIONS: FINES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

6. FORMS OF PUNISHMENT WHICH CAUSE NO PHYSICAL
SUFFERING AND WHICH ARE CARRIED OUT IN THE
COMMUNITY: COMMUNITY-BASED SENTENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................... 91




FUNDAMENTAL PENOLOGY (iv)

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FOREWORD

GENERAL INTRODUCTION
It is our privilege, as your Penology lecturers, to welcome you to the study of penology.
We hope that you will find it a stimulating, informative and rewarding experience.

We also hope that you will enjoy using the study guide as much as we enjoyed writing it.
You will notice that the study guide contains a combination of theory and practice; we did
not wish to overwhelm you at first-year level with the complicated theoretical premises,
but rather to emphasise the philosophical premises on the basis of practice.

SCOPE OF THIS STUDY GUIDE
The study guide consists of five study units. Study unit 1 examines the field of study of
penology. This study unit gives you a general overview of the study of penology and its
relation to social control and the law. The concepts of crime and punishment are discussed
in study unit 2 so that you can put the phenomenon of punishment in a penological
perspective. This discussion will make it easier for you to understand study unit 3, which
focuses on the historical development of punishment. Here we give different definitions of
punishment and put punishment in historical perspective. You might ask what the historical
progression has to do with the current functioning of punishment. The answer is quite
simple — we cannot understand the prevailing trends if we have not assimilated the
historical course. Study unit 4 deals with theories of punishment, which have the following
objectives:
◆ Retribution
◆ Deterrence
◆ Rehabilitation
◆ Prevention

Study unit 5 discusses the whole process of sentencing. We explain the principles involved
in imposing a sentence and examine the different forms of punishment that the courts can
impose.

We trust that you will have an enriching and fruitful year of study.




UNISA