刑罚是对触犯法律的人的惩罚，刑罚的目的主要有应报理论、一般预防理论和特殊预防理论。简而言之，阻隔或监控、吓阻再犯及吓阻欲仿傚者和其他相似行为者与抚慰、补偿受损者及其相关人事物。

在药物治疗、基因改造（基因治疗）、芯片控制、高精准度测谎技术与仪器等等方法合乎成本效益、高效率、性能，具有准确性、稳定性、方便性、安全性，而且对社会、自然环境不会有太大的负面影响之前，只能以教育、传播、心理治疗、刑罚、尽可能不疏失错误的侦察和调查系统（包括侦防科技、鉴识科技与体系、制度和监控记录设备的布置）等其他方式来预防、矫治直接或间接影响大众权益的行为。如果能使违法者戒过从善，变成更有能力、意愿有益社会及补偿受害相关者的人，更能提升社会效益、减少损失，但为了吓阻他人再犯，仍必须有需求剥夺或给予不欲之事物的处罚（使不得或减少获得所需、使失去或增加损失所需、增加或给予其不欲）。对于愈有高侥幸心态或自大妄为的犯行者，愈不能疏漏任何一次其各程度的犯行，皆要以相反于其需求模式的方式处罚。

Sanctions, in law and legal definition, are penalties or other means of enforcement used to provide incentives for obedience with the law, or with rules and regulations. Criminal sanctions can take the form of serious punishment, such as corporal or capital punishment, incarceration, or severe fines. Within the civil law context, sanctions are usually monetary fines, levied against a party to a lawsuit or his/her attorney, for violating rules of procedure, or for abusing the judicial process. The most severe sanction in a civil lawsuit is the involuntary dismissal, with prejudice, of a complaining party's cause of action, or of the responding party's answer. This has the effect of deciding the entire action against the sanctioned party without recourse, except to the degree that an appeal or trial de novo may be allowed because of reversible error.