Lawless relatives end up getting harsh punishment (5,9)
I believe the answer is:
penal servitude
'harsh punishment' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'lawless relatives end up' is the wordplay.
'lawless' is an anagram indicator.
'relatives'+'end'+'up'='relativesendup'
'relativesendup' with letters rearranged gives 'PENAL SERVITUDE'.
'getting' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for penal servitude that I've seen is " Imprisonment with hard labour".)