- Is it retribution? Then corporal punishment is an easier and cheaper solution. It's also arguably more humane than jail/prison.

- Is it to protect society? A thief has to steal a lot to do more damage than he'd cost as a prisoner.

- Is the goal to deterrence? That's fine, but prison sentences only really work as deterrence for premeditated crimes, and thieves are typically addicts of some sort.

The whole justice problem isn't that easy, and just throwing everybody in jail is a pretty bad idea. They do that in the USA and the results are horrific.