The intention of prisons is to keep dangerous criminals off the streets and create a deterrent for committing a crime. Instead, Tewksburg (2008) argues that prisons are now “expensive, occasionally violent, overcrowded and under-staffed” (p.208). As a result, prisons are unable to carry out their intended purpose. Prisons are constantly being constructed and are filled to capacity. Prisons simply do not eliminate crime and criminal behavior. In fact, in the United States, in many instances, the recidivism rate is quite high, and the costs for taxpayers are billions of dollars (Larrabee, 2006, p.2). Prisons do very little to improve offenders unlawful habits. When they are released, a good percentage of them commit another offence, are re-arrested and convicted. Taking criminals off the street cannot necessarily be linked to the reduction of crime because there will continue to be new criminals, and the original criminals will return to the streets.
According to Larrabee (2006) “punishment has always been the primary goal to achieve in dealing with individuals who commit acts of crime. [However,] punishment has not been as effective as anticipated [because it is] a temporary fix to crime while the offender is confined” (p.2). The reality is crimes are committed everyday, even with the possibility of severe punishment. Punishment and putting people in prison corrects only the symptoms. Take away the prison walls and the problem still exists. Punishment through incarceration does not touch on the underlying issues, the actual root of the crime. Rehabilitation however provides an opportunity for offenders in prison and it offers “a more permanent fix in deterring crime” (Larrabee, 2006, p.2). Rehabilitation is defined as “the result of any social or psychological intervention intended to reduce an offender’s potential future for criminal activity” (Alder, Mueller, & Laufer, 2009, p.380). Rehabilitation through the prison system involves changing criminals into law abiding citizens by providing educational programs, courses in prison, teaching job skills and offering drug therapy and psychological counseling. Through education and job training programs, criminals can have the power to take control of their own life as well as contribute to the community. Ideally, once able to contribute to the community, a person will feel a sense of ownership to society; wanting to protect the community, and uphold its laws. A prisoner who is not given the chance to get an education, receive job training and life skills is most likely to walk out of prison in worse shape. With the proper form of rehabilitation, a criminal can not only make a positive impact on the community when re-entering, but be a valuable asset in society.
Rehabilitation programs can increase the chances to secure an important role in the community, gain employment, housing, positive community support and new coping skills. The rehabilitation process is based on “helping create a change within the criminal’s attitude or resources so that they feel that crime is not a necessary activity” (Larrabee, 2006, p.2). Rehabilitation through probation and other community supervision programs help to not only deter crime, but to also reduce the yet rising cost of punishment. For example, it might cost the government thirty thousand dollars per day to put a criminal in prison for a week versus ten thousand dollars to put a criminal through a rehabilitation program such as probation. Rehabilitation overall, gives offenders a second chance. The goal of rehabilitation is for people to think twice before committing another crime because they realize that they have been given another chance to change rather than committing again.
The most widely used form of rehabilitation involves probation. Probation is “an alternative to imprisonment, allowing a person found guilty of an offense to stay in the community, under conditions and with supervision” (Alder et al., 2009 p.394). Probation has always been used as an alternative to punishment and incarceration (Vanstone, 2008, p.64). There are various benefits to probation including “1) not all types of offenses are serious enough to require incarceration, 2) probationers can obtain or maintain employment and pay taxes; and 3) offenders can care for their families and meet their other financial responsibilities without becoming a burden on the state” (Alder et al., 2009, p.395). Many people who are convicted of crimes are placed on probation, instead of being sent to prison. Not all types of crimes and offenses are considered serious enough to require time spent in prison. Not all offenders need to be isolated from the community, so probation serves as a way to protect the interest and safety of the public by providing treatment and supervision. The purpose of probation has always been to integrate offenders, under supervision, into law-abiding society. Probation serves the dual purpose of protecting the community through continued court supervision and attempting to rehabilitate the offender. Additionally, helping an offender become a law abiding citizen of the community, offering access to community based treatment programs and paying restitution to the victim(s) of the crime, if ordered by the court.
Victims of crime see punishment and rehabilitation in a different light. Many victims believe that criminals should not have many rights left to them. Until 2004, criminals’ rights were highly protected unlike victims. It was not until President Bush signed the Crime Victims Rights Act which “guaranteed rights to victims of federal crime” (Larrabee, 2006, p.2). Many crime victims feel that incarceration should be the primary punishment. Victims strongly believe that offenders should be held accountable for the harm they have caused. For example, “when a victim or victims family feels that the offender doesn’t receive the appropriate sentences it causes emotional stress and also financial strain when restitution is not implemented” (Larrabee, 2006, p.3). When an offender is offered rehabilitation, victims may feel that criminals are being treated too leniently considering the circumstances. They believe that the “courts are too easy on criminals” (Larrabee, 2006, p.3).
However, one of the benefits of rehabilitation on victims is when “an offender is sentenced to intense supervision through probation; they have the ability to pay restitution through employment” (Larrabee, 2006, p.3). Restitution, “binds the offender to pay the victim; in victim compensation schemes it is the state that compensates crime victims (Alder et al., 2009, p.405). Traditionally, restitution is court ordered to the victim, or a victim substitute, for any losses or harm inflicted and it typically comes through money or services (Alder et al., 2009, p.405). In recent years victim advocates have advocated for victims in making restitution part of the sentence imposed on the offender. “The purpose of restitution is to make up for some of the victim’s financial losses and to begin the process of healing and recovery (Alder et al., 2009, p.15). In addition to restitution, restorative justice “forces offenders to acknowledge what they have done and make amends to the community” (Alder et al., 2009, p. 406). Other forms of rehabilitation programs such as the Victim Impact Panel provide a face to face contact for offenders and the victims and the victims families. The goal of the victim impact panel is for offenders to see the effects of their crime and to deter the individual from committing anymore acts of crime.
Punishment and rehabilitation not only impact the victims, but also the offenders. When offenders are incarcerated they are separated from their friends and families causing stress and depression. Punishment through incarceration impacts the family structure by “contributing to single parenting” (Larrabee, 2006, p.3). Punishment through incarceration also causes social disorientation, alienation, and the increase risk of recidivism. Once an offender is released, they face “social isolation, stigmatism and economic and employment challenges” (Larrabee, 2006, p.3). Some offenders are imprisoned for years and then set free and do not have the necessary tools to find gainful employment and therefore commits another offense to try to make ends meet in their own world. Most offenders “are not motivated to learn. They do not recognize and accept their role in their problems and don’t recognize and accept their role in the solutions. Some will postpone their troublesome behavior until they are off supervision” (Fry, 2007, p.14). Many of these issues can be eliminated for offenders through rehabilitation. Offenders also commit crimes that are non-violent. For example, if a criminal commits an act that is drug related, it would not serve the criminal well to be punished through incarceration. Instead, a drug offender would benefit from drug therapy treatment. Teaching the offender drug free behavior patterns and exposing them to the various types of treatment available for drugs and alcohol is more likely to decrease their chances of re-offending than incarceration. Clearly, punishment and rehabilitation should be based on the type of crime.
The effects of crime can lead to fear, insecurity, tension, discouragement and low self esteem in members of society, and society as a whole. In society everyone is taught that they will be punished if they do something wrong. It can be a temporary form of punishment such as imprisonment or imposing probation, other fines, or even a lifelong imprisonment. Though believed to reduce crime in society, punishment is generally seen as intimidating and a burden. Whether punishment is doing more harm than good remains a topic of discussion and criticism in society.
Punishment does offer some help in today’s society by segregating the offenders from the general public. This incapacitates offenders from doing any further harm this serves as a form of protection for society. From a social impact stance, rehabilitation gives the offender a second chance to enter into society. Individuals of society can easily feel fearful and threatened being surrounded by criminals who were released. Society may fear that the offender may resort back to crime. This means that the majority of people are concerned about the releasing of inmates. Second, people may feel injustice because the government is treating the criminals instead of punishing them. If rehabilitation succeeds it can prevent criminals from becoming habitual felons resulting in jails being less crowded. True rehabilitation will put society at ease by creating good citizens where criminals once were.
The social impact punishment has on society has been a great one, especially economically with the rising prison costs. Being “tough on crime” comes with a huge price tag. It costs “$30,000 per year, per prisoner to house, feed, clothe, and supervise a prisoner” (Larrabee, 2006, p.4). Millions of dollars each year are spent to house and build prisons which impact society greatly. Housing, clothing and feeding criminals is expensive. Alternative programs to punishment such as rehabilitation, boot camps, shock camps, house arrest and electronic monitoring have all been developed to assist in reducing the rising cost of punishment. Punishment also affects economic institutions in society by removing people who bring money to families and society. The greatest impact of the punishments lies on the financial burden of the state. The cost of punishments has risen and continues to rise every year.
We as a society know that punishment functions and serves to protect society. We realize that there are many reasons as to why crime exists and that it is important to continuously look for solutions and the root causes of these crimes. So what exactly causes crime, and how do we as individuals in a crime driven society, help those who are more likely to commit crimes and change their way of thinking so as not to commit those crimes again? Perhaps the answer is to resolve the issues causing the crimes rather than spending and wasting money on the crimes itself. Society as a whole is complex, but that does not mean that we cannot stand together to help those who are in trouble to help make society better as a whole.
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