Punishment. We behave in certain ways to avoid consequences that authority figures have put out there. Through these punishments, society is being molded and shaped into what your parents, teachers, and bosses want.

        Punishments are not the only way to control someone’s behavior.  People use rewards to keep someone happy and to control the behavior.  More than likely, if you do something and you get rewarded, you will like it and behave in the same matter again later.  I see society as a place where punishments are used more than rewards.  They see that punishing an individual is easier than rewarding them.  It seems like those that are punished severely and taken to jail, come out of jail and find there way back.  This is because some people are punished in the wrong way and sent to jail.  Once out of jail, society sees that they have been punished and put them as outcast.  These people now have a harder time functioning in society because the government thinks they have changed these individual’s behaviors.  In reality, they come out of jail with no opportunity available.  No one will hire these people because they are now seen as criminals.  They try to find jobs but no one reaches out to them because of the punishment they have received.  Now these individuals find themselves in a dilemma.  They need to eat and feed their families but have no way of doing so.  They have to commit crimes to get want they want because society has put them out.

        Society and the people in it are not perfect and mistakes are made.  We use punishment to control behavior so we can predict what they will do and control those around us.  We need to understand that punishment can be good if used correctly.  But if punishment is used incorrectly, it will hurt society in the long run and make life much harder to live.