This paper presents the way contemporary mentalities view the criminal sanction. Based on a representative sample of the adult population of French-speaking Switzerland (N = 1881), empirical research revealed three distinct views. “Prospectivism” mainly justifies the criminal sanction, which it views in terms of the individual’s reintegration into society. The responses to offenses are moderated and oriented toward “corrective care.” “Contractualism” emphasizes the responsibility of the offender who must pay for what he/she did. The purpose of the penalty is dominated by the idea of restitution: the sanction must be adapted to the perpetrator’s intent and the objective gravity of the damage. Lastly, “ostracism” is based on a categorical image of the offender The offender is the other—the foreigner, the marginalized, the junkie, etc.—and the criminal justice system must exclude him/her. In these cases, the severity of the sanction is high and may even include the use of defamatory or shameful sanctions.