Which of the following statements best describes punitive damages?

Punitive damages are specifically designed to punish a defendant for particularly egregious or reckless behavior and to deter others from engaging in similar conduct. They are awarded on top of compensatory damages, which aim to restore the plaintiff to their prior state by compensating for loss or injury. The primary focus of punitive damages is not to compensate the victim but to serve as a form of societal condemnation of wrongful conduct and as a warning to others.

The other options do not capture the essence of punitive damages accurately. For example, compensatory damages are purely focused on recompensating the plaintiff for losses incurred and do not include an element of punishment. While punitive damages can be awarded in civil cases, they are not limited to that context since they can also arise in certain criminal cases through fines or other penalties aimed at wrongdoers, making the claim of exclusivity inaccurate. Lastly, punitive damages do not relate to restitution or the return of items, which involves restoring a party to a previous state rather than penalizing bad conduct.