Almost all sociologists who have en

Almost all sociologists who have engaged with these questions have concluded that changes in the types of punishment in use come about not just because of the persuasiveness of philosophers' arguments. As was shown in Part One, ideas such as retribution, deterrence, protection from dan-gerousness and rehabilitation have had their advocates throughout his¬tory What changes is the relative influence they exert - at some times, retribution seems to fit the mood of the day, at other times there is a swing in favour of rehabilitation or some other consequentialist aim. As with the aims of punishment, so with the kinds of penalty with which the aims are pursued -sometimes, the prison seems to be the place where the offender has the best chance of reform, away from the influences which drove her/him to crime; at other times, prisons are thought of as places which make people more rather than less criminally inclined. At some times, there are climates of tolerance and optimism that most criminals can be successfully reintegrated; at other times the prevailing social temper seems harsh and vengeful. At some times the rights of offenders are considered as of great importance, the way society deals with those who transgress its rule is considered the index of its civilization; at other- times, such views are considered soft-headed, and the right of victims to have their feelings assuaged by harsh penalties is projected as more important. Sociological studies of punishment have shown that the penal temper of a society, and thus its preferred penal goals and strategies, is related not so much to the weight of penal ideas but to their congruence with other areas of social life, such as the economic base of society and the form of government.