If I got my pocket picked, and the perp was arrested, I suppose that would suffice. However, if I were robbed or mugged, I would feel much better having given the guy at least a single punch in the face, catharsis for me, and a stinging “you reap what you sow” for the robber.
Charges, court, jail, probation, parole, these are all everyday things for people likely to snatch your wallet. They continue to be everyday things for them until they are either incarcerated long term, killed, die some other death, or experience the all too uncommon turning of a leaf.
Robbery is not akin in any way to bread theft for a family’s sake, it’s personal, and it’s an act of someone who doesn’t care at all what happens to his victims.
Honestly, if the thief got a misdemeanor charge, a couple days in jail, and some paperwork for robbing someone, would that be enough of a deterrent? Seems not.
If the guy got his nose broken every time he tried that shit, I think we’d have a different result, and at a 100% savings to the tax payers no less.