"Reward" redirects here; for more on psychological reward and punishment, see reinforcement.

A bounty is often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or thing. They are typically in the form of money. Two modern examples of bounties are the bounty placed for the capture of Saddam Hussein by the United States and Microsoft's bounty for computer virus creators. Those who make a living by pursuing bounties are known as bounty hunters.

A Bounty System was used in the American Civil War. It was an incentive to increase enlistments.

Another bounty system was used in New South Wales to increase the number of immigrants from 1832.

The origin of the usage of this word in this sense may have come from the infamous Mutiny on the Bounty. After Lieutenant William Bligh returned to England and reported the mutiny to the Admiralty, HMS Pandora was dispatched to search for Bounty and the mutineers. The voyage gave rise to the expression "bounty-hunting".

See also

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• Bounty hunter

English bounte, from Old French bonte, from Latin bonitās, goodness, from bonus, good.

References

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Law enforcement | Criminology topics

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