Punishment has been present since the very beginnings of human society as a way of controlling individuals who do not adhere to social rules. The purpose and methods of punishment have changed throughout history side by side with the development of human society and the dominant values of a certain period. The history of punishment is full of violence, death sentences and brutal forms of corporal punishment. The development of human rights, the Age of enlightenment, and modern science have transformed punishment. The Modern Age is abandoning corporal punishment as the primary method of punishment, turning to the institutionalization of punishment, primarily through imprisonment, rehabilitation of offenders, and more recently alternative sanctions that replace imprisonment. A person who committed a crime is seen as a citizen who deserves the respect of all rights and dignified treatment even while serving his sentence. The death penalty, however, has not been completely abandoned, nor has corporal punishment, but most countries encourage the application of alternative sanctions and the rehabilitation of prisoners through treatments that change their behavior so that they ultimately become socially functional individuals. How a certain community punishes its members reflects the level of the development of human rights, democracy and civilization of that community.