Penologies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The study and classification of various systems of punishment and rehabilitation in the criminal justice system
2. The examination of different approaches to imprisonment and corrections practices within a societal context
3. The analysis of methods employed to deal with offenders, focusing on their treatment and the impact on crime prevention

Etymology: "Penologies" is simply the plural of "penology," so it is the form of a noun that names the study of punishment and its systems. The base word is built from Latin "poena," meaning "penalty" or "punishment," joined to the combining element "-ology," which denotes a field of study, as in "biology" or "geology." Together they form a term for the systematic study of how societies punish and reform offenders. The Latin "poena" is also the source of the English "penal," as in penal code or penal colony, and of "penalty" itself, which reached English through Old French. "Penology" thus shares its root with those everyday words, though it was built from that Latin element in English by adding the scientific suffix, rather than inherited from classical times.