What concept refers to punishment being given to deter others by demonstrating the consequences of heinous crimes?

The concept of deterrence refers to the practice of imposing punishment with the intention of discouraging individuals from committing crimes, particularly serious offenses. The idea behind deterrence is to make an example of an offender, thereby showing others the potential consequences of engaging in similar criminal behavior. This is particularly relevant in the context of heinous crimes, where the goal is to communicate that such actions will lead to significant repercussions, thus discouraging others from following the same path.

Deterrence operates on the premise that if potential offenders see that severe penalties are enforced for certain actions, they may be less likely to engage in those actions due to the fear of punishment. This can include both general deterrence, which aims at the public at large, and specific deterrence, which focuses on preventing the individual offender from reoffending.

While the other options relate to concepts or methods of punishment, they do not encapsulate the primary goal of using punishment to discourage crime through public awareness of its consequences. Protection refers to the safeguarding of society from harmful individuals, lethal injection is a method of execution, and stoning is a form of capital punishment; none of these directly reflect the objective of deterring others through the demonstration of consequences for crime.