'Punishment vs. Rehabilitation within the criminal justice system Essay\r'

'I. wherefore did you pick this topic?\r\nIf you were bullied in school as a child, accordingly the â€Å"best social classs” of your c atomic number 18er whitethorn consider felt much worry an end slight, living nightm be. There is no shortage of mixer predators trying to boost their self-assertion or status at just ab tabu opposite people’s expense. Now cogitate a school of vexed knocks where the compactness of bullies is much high than their victims. That’s what flavor whitethorn be like for more a convict service era in prison ho put on house. How im attainable is it to non change by reversal heavy(a)ened and detached below the ever invariable threat of victimization? It’s hard to imagine that reform is wear out of that comparability when unrivaled’s very life is at stake. Yet that is matchless of the impressions that we on the discloseside ache of why di tasteings atomic number 18 in prisons: so that the y bequeath jerk off best. But do they? In motion to make society appear to portion properly, we claim to close our eyes to some contradictions. Ironically, numerous atomic number 18 found at bottom the arbiter emergelines. We keep all witnessed lawyers so hungry for money and advancement that they testament protect whitlows from captivity at the toll of the adjacent innocent victim. A nonher vault of heaven of umpire to which our eyes argon unlikeable atomic number 18 the prisons where convicted guiltys do their reparation. Some main agents why criminals be move to prison argon:\r\nTo separate a strong-armer from his next victim †whether it be a robber from the jewelry store, a raper from women, or a medicine corpus from his accustomed customers, etc. As penalization and r unconstipatedge for the execrations a ballyrag has already blessted against his victims. To reform or put the behavior and reintegrate a bullyrag backward into our respe ctable society. The outset reason †to separate a criminal from his/her next victim †is the proper use of well-disposed seperation for keeping the public safe from march on harm. The flake, using imprisonment as a form of penalisation and r until nowge is a misguided use of arbiter, because revenge turns the punisher into the bully possibly even the murderer, if a decease sen 10ce is carried out. So basically we bind a load of people inwardly a free society performing out violently with the same emotions as those which are causing our prisons to fill up with wrongdoers. As you brook reckon, the justice constitution is hypocritical.\r\nMy greatest concern, is how quite a little incarcerating a criminal reconstruct them; that being locked in a cage surrounded by early(a) criminals can somehow lead one to make out a d adenosine monophosphate person. opine yourself trapped twenty four hours a day for a span of devil to twenty years in a prep school populated close up by those who collapse beaten, robbed, stolen, murdered or raped others out of rage, hatred and some other kind imbalance. To add ill- interposition to injury, the world outside aids and abominates you, maybe even wants to kill you. You arouse to work your dash by means of the administration by serving time so that you can lastly graduate to being released among those who fear and hate you because you are non an ex-con. Are prisons very designed for rehabilitating criminals? How can a tense, selfish, survival-establish automatic teller machine promote a more sympathetic and emotionally balanced human? wedded the constant negative reinforcement, it is near impossible. In fact prisons so more by overhauling educate beginners in abomination to be move up even better criminals. That’s a poor investment for the prox of our community. A huge shift essential take wander if the Department of department of corrections actually in inclines to correct the troubled one. We must(prenominal) call back methods and programs which not only repossess the wounds and troubled minds, just now which helps them understand that detestation begins with an attitude that we take toward others.\r\nII. How has literature viewed this exit?\r\nMost people may turn over of prisons as nothing more than facilities where criminals are incarcerated and deprived of their freedoms go serving a blame that has been assigned as penalisation for an illegal act they committed. While this is true, the ideal of imprisonment is in addition intended to puddle a rehabilitative effect on inmates. The basic idea of refilling done imprisonment is that a person who has been incarcerated pull up stakes never want to be sent back to prison after they have been set free. It is hoped that an inmate’s experiences while locked up will leave much(prenominal) a lasting impression that a former prisoner will do whatever it takes to avoid a second term. Unfo rtunately, research has consistently shown that time spent in prison does not officiate to rehabilitate most inmates, and the mass of criminals upshot to a life of offense almost immediately. some(prenominal) argue that most prisoners will actually learn new and better musical modes to commit crimes while they are locked up with their fellow convicts. They can withal make connections and become more late involved in the criminal world.\r\nTo rehabilitate is basically to take something or person that has gone bad and to bring them back to a useful and positive condition. In an effort to offer better rehabilitative services to the inmates, some prisons have begun providing psychiatrists to help deal with mental disorders and serious issues held by the prisoners. They also offer classroom settings in which inmates can learn to read and fall in other means of legally advance themselves. These methods are proven to have a positive effect on the prisoners. They have helped um teen to overcome a undercoat with little or no nurture and encouraged some to straighten out their lives. Upon their release, prisoners who have stuck with these programs are given a better opportunity to succeed and to become law abiding citizens. refilling of prisoners is an exceedingly difficult effort. Inmates are segregated from the frequent public and forced to live in a society where crime is a mode of life. For some(prenominal), time spent tail assembly bars will push them far into a life of crime, but for others, the horrors of prison life and the lessons they learn there are enough to convince them to do anything possible to never become imprisoned again.\r\nIII. Why reformation finished punishment doesn’t work!\r\nThe media tries to portray the â€Å"new” prison as a way to rehabilitate prisoners, whether it is through and through education or medicine replacement; nonetheless, this is far from the truth for most. The first point where this pass outs is the prison system does not transition their prisoners back into the community. The prison system isolates wrongdoers from their community and family. For violent offenders, yes this is what they are think over to do but people who are needing medicate rehabilitation need carry from their family and community. Additionally, a person can find oneself more drugs in prison than he or she can find out on the streets; however, at a higher price but they are still there. The second point where the rehabilitation programs fail is the prisoner has to want to change his or her life around and galore(postnominal) have not come to that point yet. Additionally, many states offer time cuts for taking these rehabilitation programs and many prisoners take these programs just to overhear the time cuts.\r\nI personally have family that has told me, â€Å"Yeah, I am going to go back out on the streets get my paper up (hustling) because that is the only way I can make money.† Which did not make any sense to me because forthwith most prisons do have vocational schools or college courses available; however, depending on a person’s offense, it does not payoff the education level, sometimes it is very hard to get a decent paid job once released from prison. whitethornbe a good solution for this problem is for a first time drug offender or a person who seems to acquit from a mental illness, put them in a rehabilitation center or else of a jail or prison. prison only makes people angrier and teaches them how to be better criminals. I have seen people go into prison for white collar crimes and come out drug addicts and better criminals. The prison system is something that definitely needs to be re-worked and re-adjusted because it is definitely failing.\r\nIV. How does this affect us socially?\r\nThe expectations that our society has for the criminal justice system is to punish and rehabilitate individuals who commit crime. penalization and reh abilitation are also deuce of the four acknowledged objectives of the criminal justice system, with bullying and incapacitation being the others. In the join States, punishment has always been the primary inclination to achieve when dealing with individuals who commit acts of crime. many an(prenominal) theorists throughout history have argued which is more effective, punishment or rehabilitation. The effectiveness of punishment and rehabilitation has been analyzed to see the effectuate on victims and offenders and also the social and pecuniary impact on our society. The Classical shallow of Criminology has proposed that punishment is used to create disincentive and the Positive School of Criminology uses the practice of rehabilitation to reduce recidivism.\r\nDeterrence\r\nDeterrence is one of the primary goals in the criminal justice system and it is described as especial(a) or specific disapproverence and commonplace deterrence. The purpose of special/specific deterrence is to instill fear on the offender so that they will not commit time to come crime. General deterrence is ground on punishing offenders to instill fear in society, otherwise known as teaching society a lesson and screening the consequences of committing crime. penalisation has always been imposed base on the idea that it will deter individuals from committing crime or repeating criminal acts. Incapacitation has been the most common form of punishment, however research demonstrates that recidivism amongst convicted felons following release from prison is as high as 63% and that most prison inmates had arrest records and convictions preceding to their current offense. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1989) Punishment through incarceration is a temporary localization to crime while the offender is confined.\r\nThe supreme sentence of life in prison and the finish penalty has even been debated on whether they are deterrence to crime. There are so many underlying factors inwardly the criminal justice system that may contribute to why punishment has not been as effective as pass judgment much(prenominal) as the appeal performance in death penalty cases and the aloofness of time that an offender sits on death row. Others argue that rehabilitation is a more permanent fix in deterring crime. renewal through community supervision can have a more lasting effect on individuals and deter them from committing emerging crime if they learn how to adapt in society by gaining academic or trade skills. These programs can help offenders find employment and secure an grand occasion in the community and give them a sense of being. Therapy is another form of rehabilitation needed to help deter individuals from committing approaching crime. Some examples of therapy include drug therapy to those offenders addicted to drugs and psychological counseling to those offenders who grew up in an abusive household.\r\nRehabilitation is based on creating a change in the criminal ’s attitude or resources so that crime is neither a desired nor necessary activity. When an individual is sentenced to probation, it gives them the opportunity to live self-supporting within the community and not using the taxpayer and states money to house them in a punitive facility.\r\nVictim stir\r\nIn many cases, victim functions tend to be overshadowed by the rights of the accused. The courts are get to give a defendant their ingrained rights including the right to a speedy trial, the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, and due suffice under the law. Up until recently, victim’s rights were never recognized as an important fiber in the criminal justice system. In the past, victims and their families were often treated as inconveniences, ignored throughout trial proceedings, and sometimes even forced to stay out of the courtroom as the proceedings went on. These issues have caused many victims to feel neglected and even re-victimized by the courts. On October 30th, 2004, The Crime Victims’ Rights effect was signed into law by president Bush to guarantee rights to victims of federal crime. These rights include, to be reasonably protected from the accused offender and to receive reasonable and timely come up of any public proceeding involving the crime or of any public proceeding. (feinstein senate.gov/booklets, n.d) The majority of society, including victims of crime prefers swift punishment to rehabilitation through community supervision. According to the BJS Sourcebook of criminal Justice Statistics, more than three-quarters of the public see punishment as the primary apology for sentencing. They also report that more than 70 percent believe that incapacitation is the only legitimate way to prevent future crimes, and more than three-quarters believe that the courts are too abstemious on criminals.\r\nPublic opinion supports the increase use of prisons to give criminals just desserts. When a victim or the victims’ family feels that their offender does not receive the appropriate sentence, it causes emotional stress and also financial strain when indemnification is not implemented. Community supervision can also benefit victims in genuine ways. When an offender is sentenced to intense supervision through probation, they have the ability to pay riposte through employment. Other forms of rehabilitation through community supervision may also benefit a victim or their families such as programs such as one that was introduced in my county. The program is a group of victims called the Victim involve dining table who talk to offenders that are convicted of drunk driving. These individuals are brought hardihood to face with victims and their family members of drunk driving. These programs have high hopes of deterring individuals from committing such acts.\r\nOffender cushion\r\nPunishment through incarceration has many effects on convicted criminals. Incarceration has many effec ts on the offender psychological well-being. When an offender is separated from their family, it causes severe depression. Supporters of rehabilitation versus punishment argue that sentencing offenders to incarceration stick out the family structure by contributing to integrity parenting. They also argue that punishment causes social disorientation, alienation, and also increases the risk of recidivism. When an offender is released from incarceration, they face social isolation, stigmatism, economic and employment challenges. Rehabilitation through community supervision eliminates many of these issues, such as the economic & employment factor. Probation allows offenders to remain with their families, continue works or find employment under close supervision.\r\nDrug Courts\r\nThere are certain crimes that would benefit from rehabilitation more so than punishment, such as non-violent drug think. Criminals who commit acts of crimes to support their drug drug demoralize need t reatment more than punishment. In many states, such as current York, Drug courts have been established. Drug courts stand for the coordinated efforts of the judiciary, prosecution, defense bar, probation, law enforcement, mental health, social service, and treatment communities to actively and forcefully intervene and break the cycle of perfume abuse, addiction, and crime. Drug courts quickly identify substance-abusing offenders and place them under strict court monitor and community supervision, coupled with effective, long-term treatment services. The National Drug Court nominate describes the process that a participant as an intense regimen of substance abuse and mental health treatment, case management, drug testing, and probation supervision while reporting to on a regular basis scheduled status hearings before a judge. In addition, drug courts may earmark job skill training, family/group counseling, and many other life-skill enhancement services. Data consistently show th at treatment, when completed is effective and issue more apostrophize effective.\r\nSocial Impact upon connection\r\nThe social impact of punishment and rehabilitation varies from the increasing hails of correctional facilities to the disruption of families to the fear of criminals released into community. Society’s view plays a major role in the criminal justice system. Society’s belief’s in the â€Å"just desserts” theory has played a role in the courts. The push for needful sentencing has even entered political campaigns in chemical reaction to the public. â€Å"Getting tough on crime” was the basis behind different needful sentencing practices. The increase of correctional facilities is also related to society’s impact on punishment versus rehabilitation. Fiscal Impact\r\nThe financial impact that punishment has on our rural is phenomenal. It has been reported that it greets an average of $30,000 per year to house, feed, clothe , and supervise a prisoner. This figure does not include the costs of construction and other factors. Many rehabilitation programs have been introduced to not only help deter crime, but also to reduce the rising cost of punishment. Privatization of corrections has been also looked at as an effort to reduce the costs of punishment. Many states have also instituted alternatives to incarceration such as â€Å"boot camps” or â€Å" scandalize camps”. These programs are proven to be less costly than incarceration. The cost of shock incarceration in New York State has been estimated to be $10,000 less per year per prisoner than the cost of traditional incarceration (Punishment vs. rehabilitation: A Proposal for revising Sentencing Practices, September 1991) The use of intensive parole programs has been estimated to save taxpayers an estimated ten to thirteen thousand dollars per year compared to the cost of incarceration.\r\nOverview of Punishment and Rehabilitation\r\nPunis hment and rehabilitation are a major part of the criminal justice system and will be effective in arbitrary crime if there is a way to incorporate the two factors to work together. weighed down and following up with rehabilitation through community supervision can be the source of helping deter crime. Punishment and community supervision should be based on the type of crime. If the appropriate sentence is issued upon an offender, it can help deter them from future criminal activity. Punishment vs. Rehabilitation in the Criminal Justice System\r\n whole works Cited\r\nCadigan, Brian. â€Å"Correcting Our Flawed Criminal Justice System, one(a) Private Prison at a Time.” The Bottom Line UCSB. N.p., 11 May 2011. Web. 09 May 2013.\r\nDutta, Sunil. â€Å"How to Fix America’s Broken Criminal Justice System.” The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 30 Dec. 2010. Web. 07 May 2013. Vedantam, Shankar. â€Å"When Crime Pays: Prison sens Teach Some To Be divulge Criminals.” NPR. NPR, 01 Feb. 2013. Web. 07 May 2013.\r\n'