As for prostitutes they have done nothing wrong. I have never, and indeed almost certainly will never visit one, however morally they have done no wrong.
I accept your point about the reasons behind stealing, and you are right, there are often motives for theft, including feeding one's own family. However there are those who choose theft as a "job" instead of studying and applying for legal jobs. For these people i have no compassion.
I dont agree with the idea of removing limbs for theft, it was an example, but a very good one.
To some people i expect it will help them to feel more secure, particularly in the case of rape, murder and especially domestic violence imprisonment or (as an extreme example) amputation to the point that person no longer is a threat, would indeed help the victim feel safe in knowing it cannot happen again.Does it bring back the security that the victim had before some one stole from them?
However, the main purpose is to prevent it happening to other people. Back to amputation, like i said, it is extremely difficult for a one, or no-armed thief to steal. This in turn makes them no longer a threat which is helpful. Imagine a serial thief robs 5 houses in one road. The first time he gets caught and let off and then robs four more houses. What if we could go back in time and chop his arms off after the first time? Four more houses wouldve been safe, four more families would not have the trauma of waking up to find a thief in their house, possibly with a weapon, possibly threatening them or their children.
In this example the punishment would have a significant point.
It is of course only an example, however it highlights that punishment, as opposed to revenge, has a point and a reason.
I am not saying amputation is a good thing. So some more examples... An abuser who abuses a woman, give him the beating of his life and repeatedly let him know if he comes near the woman again he will be killed. He wont be back anytime soon (and youd possibly go to jail, so dont do that
) On the other hand, you key the abusers car and pour paint all over it. What does this do? Naff all. He wont be scared of hurting women again. OR mask up and ambush him at night, give him a beating and run away without him identifying you. The outcome is he feels more insecure and hurts women even more to make up for it.
The point of this is not to make it up to the victim, they must do that from within themselves. It is to ensure the person doing it is either unable to do it again, does not want to, or is too scared to do it again. That prevents future hurt to people which is the overall goal.
