The phrase "a punitive response" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing actions taken as a form of punishment or retribution in various contexts, such as legal, social, or organizational settings.
Example: "The committee decided that a punitive response was necessary to address the repeated violations of the rules."
Alternatives: "a disciplinary action" or "a retaliatory measure".
Some European politicians want a punitive response.
The state should promote a healthy debate, not a punitive response".
What is the capability of the Iranian response, and the likelihood of a punitive response — like cutting off oil shipments?
(Like nearly every government official I met in Mali whether a local representative or one from another country, including the U.S.—he asked for anonymity, fearing a punitive response from the Trump Administration).
Big questions with interesting possibilities but much as many would like to see a punitive response dished out to those who implement this abuse, the pathway is relatively untrod and uncertain.
Many of us who work in this field have come to understand addiction as a relapsing, recurring disease or condition requiring us to address lapses in a way that does not trigger a punitive response.
The notion that the victims were primarily little old ladies in unprotected post offices murdered by young robbers was shown to be a myth that had dictated a distinctive punitive response.
However, at the precise moment that Clinton was speaking in New York, Baltimore's district courts were overcrowded with defendants being told to expect a highly punitive response for sometimes low-level offences.
At the time, political leaders across the spectrum were responding to soaring violent crime rates, which many believed required an immediate, punitive response.
We also know from safety culture surveys that many hospitals still have a long way to go in creating an environment in which care providers believe they can be open about errors without triggering an unduly punitive response.
As Susan Sontag has shown in "Illness as Metaphor," her study of the mythology of disease, all the major illnesses have prompted a moralistic and punitive response, and have given rise to entire theoretical systems based on phony psychologizing.
