When the Indiana Men's Basketball program dismissed Sophomore Emmitt Holt on Monday, it didn't serve any traditional purpose of punishment. Instead, it served the personal interests of the decision makers.
Retribution. Deterrence. Rehabilitation. Incapacitation.
The primary purpose that we choose says a lot about us as a society and as individual punishers. Each of those four legitimate purposes of punishment has a different underlying reason for being administered. Although deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation are all consequential purposes -- meaning they're geared toward what will happen in the future -- they're different in who they protect.