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  If there is no punishment, people will seek out their own. We often think of ourselves as high and moral people, but once those special foundations break down, you’d be surprised how many people will become barbaric. 
  Punishment takes the need for vigilantism, and for the victim or their family, to achieve justice/fairness out of their hands, and into the state.
context: What does punishment actually accomplish, though? It seems easy to see what rehabilitation accomplishes -- the reformation of a criminal individual into a contributing member of society.
  So setting aside what is or isn't "fair," what do we get out of a punishment-focused justice system?