Punishment has seven reasons: general deterrence, individual deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, expression of moral outrage, rehabilitation and restitution. Deterrence, incapacitation and retribution are often cited as the major factors in support of punishment

Allocation of punishment is second only to determination of guilt or innocence. Historically, judges were given a wide berth of discretion while still being controlled to some degree

Things like the severity of the crime can lead to better sentencing decisions but some decisions such as things regarding race and gender can lead to less accurate sentencing

Considerations for juveniles include things like their rehabilitation needs, the recommendations of professionals and other various factors. Sex offenders can be subject to mandatory registration and community notification, involvuntary commitment and extreme sanctions such as castration

Aggravating circumstances are conditions that make a criminal act more serious (for example, knowingly creating dangerous situations for others as well as the particular victim)

Assimilation is the mental process in which an individual internalizes a current perception or conveption into their preexisting representation

Blended sentencing allows judges, when sentencing juveniles tried as adults, to combine sanctions available in juvenile court with those used in criminal court

Brutalization is the proposition that the use of capital punishment actually increases the crime rate by sending a message that it is acceptable to kill those who have wronged society

Death qualification is a jury panle that excludes person whose attitudes abotu capital punishment would prevent them from performign their sworn duty as jurors

Declarative knowledge is jurors understanding of legal concepts

The dispositional phase is the sentencing phase of the case in which hearings typically combine adversarial procedures and attention to the particular needs (physical, psychological and social) of the child

Focal concerns theory is a theory that explains the criminal activities of lower-class adolescent gangs as an attempt to achieve the ends that are most valued in their culture through behaviors that appear best suited to obtain those ends

Indeterminate sentencing is a sentencing scheme in which judges impose an indefinite period of incarceration for a given offense and the actual length of stay depends on whether the individual is released on parole or serves the full sentence