Question

Had long admiration to this example:

When criminals were sent to isolated island centuries ago they suddenly realized that it's not fun anymore when everyone is criminal. And switched to one of most friendly and lawful behaviours compared to other World (Australia intended).
Or same for littering: people who have zero littering policy won't even notice any troubles when they put together. However, people who do litter, when they concentrated together, will very often try to escape this place for better life - they need to switch behaviour model.
Focus in both cases is on switching behaviour.

This can be propagated on the countries level:
For example, a principle of protecting people who talk same language or have same religion in other countries will produce infinite conflicts, at least due to migration flows. However, for example, if Afghanistan will offer discriminated Muslims opportunity to move to Afghanistan - this works fluently and will not create major wars (propagated as imperative for all countries behaviour).

The best name I found is What if everybody else did this test.

It also looks great to propagate this to best punishment strategy: if someone violates this test, the sentence should be to ensure this person gets a reflected back What if everybody else did this experience.

Please provide a practical example where any of these concepts (rule or punishment) fail?
Obviously, the assumption is that participants are relatively similar OR that difference will get mirrored with years, i.e. a strong participant will be weak under similar situation years later.
This is not bad assumption because now it's close to proven all humans originate from same tribe 2M years ago. And migration started much later around 200K years ago. Both incomparably smaller than evolution time (dolphins and humans common ancestor is 60M+ years ago, and we still incredibly similar on embryo and behaviour).
Considering possibly non-optimal result fail - there is an idea that main law system goal is to decrease crime levels, and raw justice is only second priority. But if recall is correct, there were some studies which suggest that making less harsh punishments than Eye for an Eye (modern version probably includes psychological damage to people in the area too) does not principally influence repeat chances.

Answer 1

Punishment-based models can fail when applied within societies with systemic inequalities, where the privileged may face lighter sentences, and certain groups are disproportionately targeted. The focus on punitive measures alone can lead to increased antisocial behavior rather than decreasing crime rates.

Step-by-step explanation:

A practical example where behavior-based punishment models fail is within unequal societal structures, which can perpetuate systemic biases and injustices rather than correcting individual behaviors.

One notable failure of behavior-based punishment systems is evident in societies with inherent social inequalities. For example, historical legal codes have been discriminatory, meting out punishments based on social rank or status, with the privileged often receiving lighter sentences for the same crimes as common citizens. In modern times, these systemic biases can lead to disproportionate targeting and punishment of certain demographic groups, thus failing to address the root causes of criminal behavior or deter future crimes effectively. Moreover, certain measures taken to prevent crimes, such as severe punishments or capital sentences, do not necessarily result in lower crime rates or recidivism. Instead, they sometimes escalate the cycle of violence.

Notably, the observation learning theory suggests that exposure to aggressive law enforcement practices might lead to increased instances of antisocial behavior, further highlighting the limitations and potential adverse effects of punishment-focused criminal justice approaches.

Communities and justice systems that rely solely on punitive measures without integrating preventive, rehabilitative, or restorative justice strategies often observe the failure of behavior modification and reduction in recidivism rates, undermining the overarching aim of creating safer societies.