Essay on "English Rhetoric Prison Punishment or Rehabilitation"

Essay 10 pages (3015 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

english rhetoric. Prison: punishment or rehabilitation?

[the inmate skills development program is focused on putting together abilities which are indispensable to a successful integration in society. There are a series of skills involved in the program, each meant to create individuals that will have no trouble in dealing with the outside world, and that will not consider crime an alternative in accomplishing their goals. All inmates, regardless of the crimes that they have committed, should be entitled to using this program, since it presents people with the chance of coming at peace with themselves. At the same time the programs assists society in its efforts to eliminate criminal behavior and criminal thoughts.]

The criminal justice system is basically meant to insure the well-being of the general public by giving criminals the sentences that they deserve. Society wants law institutions to punish and rehabilitate lawbreakers. In prison, criminals have to answer for their crimes by being denied a number of basic rights. Concomitantly, they undergo a series of programs intended to shape their character so that they would simply integrate society when they are released. Prisons are projected with the purpose of keeping criminals off the streets, and, eventually, to provide the world with people that are less inclined to commit crimes.

Across history, people have considered that the best answer to crime is the punishing of criminals. By punishing the criminal, the masses considered that both the victim and the offender had received what they deserved. Punishment is something that people fear, thus making it less possible for them to commit a crime, as they are perfectly aware of the risks involved. Rehabilitation, in contrast, is not meant to induce fear into those that experience it, as its role is to prevent criminals from recidivating.

It is controversial whether punishment is more effective than rehabilitation or vice-versa. However, in the recent decades, people have displayed a less brutal attitude toward criminals, as the balance seems to have dropped in the favor of rehabilitation. There is no denying that punishment is an effective method of preventing crime. Nevertheless, society must not be indifferent to the effect that punishment has on a person. Rehabilitation, in comparison, is considered by the modern world more efficient, for the fact that criminals will not feel stress consequent to going through a rehabilitation program, as they would merely feel better informed and their minds would be clearer.

The criminal justice system uses deterrence as a main tool to prevent crime. The authorities consider that the criminal will be permanently affected by the time that he or she spends in prison, and that the fear instilled in them will serve as an instrument of preventing the respective person from ever committing crime again. People want criminals to become aware of the consequences of performing acts which are against the law.

Putting an individual behind bars is not necessarily a form of punishing the respective person, as it is also a form of preventing crime by put people out of action, so that they would no longer be able display deviant behavior. Life imprisonment and the death penalty are very effective punishments, making it impossible for individuals to disturb the peacefulness present in the outside world. However, it is contentious whether these two punishments can actually prevent people from becoming criminals.

Criminals are in their position because they had not been able to adapt to society's requirements. Criminals get the opportunity to become skilled in domains such as academics and trade. Through rehabilitation, there are fewer chances for wrongdoers to resort to future crimes, as the experience will leave them with the feeling that crime is not the answer to their problems and that they are capable of doing much more than that.

Through the therapy that they receive during rehabilitation, individuals are taught how to control themselves. Therapy also involves psychological counseling, which operates as a device to analyze and resolve the traumas that individuals have come across at a particular time in their lives.

By facing incarceration, a person is deprived of much more than just their freedom, as it also includes another number of factors, most of them detrimental for the human being going through the captivity process. One's mind is put through great torment once it is decided that the person should be deprived by his or her liberty. One of the basic sufferings that an incarcerated individual has to endure is the one related to their families and their homes. Once they are separated from their families and put in a criminal community, most people experience a severe depression. Not only does incarceration have a devastating effect on those that undergo the procedure, but it is also harmful for the families of these people. Imprisonment is considered a cause for single parenting.

Consequent to spending time in prison without going through rehabilitation, people will feel that they are not able to behave normally because of the time that they had spent incarcerated. Moreover, individuals are likely to feel alienated and society will appear unwelcoming to them, thus increasing their chances to commit crime and to recidivate. It is generally known that an individual who has been in prison has trouble getting a job, since most companies prefer their workers to have clean records. If one had not gone through a rehabilitating phase, it is most likely that the respective person will lose interest in looking for a job consequent number of employers refusing to accept their services. Their fates already decided by the incarceration period without going through rehabilitation, inmates have less chances of thriving in a society where they initially feel rejected.

Certain crimes are less severe than they are originally perceived and the offenders should be treated with more understanding. Drug-related crimes, for example, should not receive the same treatment as other offenses. It is obvious that when a certain someone commits a crime because of their addiction for drugs, the person in cause has a lot of potential in recuperating through rehabilitation. These people need special treatment, not incarceration with no one there for them to offer enlightenment in their condition. Addiction is considered decisive in most cases, as it can be much more powerful than rationality, pushing a person to commit unimaginable crimes in order to satisfy their needs. Thus, one's addiction for drugs would simply push them to resort to crime after they are no longer incarcerated. Rehabilitation, in contrast, would have a very different effect on drug addicts. Rehabilitation and punishment are not one hundred percent effective, as they cannot guarantee that a person would no longer commit crimes when they are released into society. However, while a drug addict would feel that little has changed after receiving their punishment, the situation would surely be different if one would have gone through a rehabilitation program. In addition to the rehabilitation therapy instructing persons concerning drugs, their abuse, and the consequences coming along with using the substances, people will also have their minds taken off from drugs because of the skills that they would be presented with.

Subjecting inmates to rehabilitation can also be considered a financial investment, considering the fact that the prisoners will most probably get jobs when they are released, and the state will thus benefit from the taxes that such people will pay. Also, if people are prevented from recidivating, the country will no longer be required to pay for the incarceration that these people will undergo.

Society suffers from incarcerating people, and this has been proven in many occasions, ranging from families being disbanded to the general public being scared that criminals are being released into their communities. To some people, incarceration is responsible for creating criminals, as they consider that while at the time when they enter people are relatively human, the time spent in captivity changes them, to the phase when they are hopeless, with no chances whatsoever of ever integrating society properly. However, at the same time, it is society that wants offenders put under bars and punished, with people wanting the authorities to "get tough on crime."

The masses are normally happy knowing that there are a large number of prisons to host criminals, but what they fail to see is that incarceration is useless without proper rehabilitation programs, as simple captivity time does little to better a person. Furthermore, incarceration can make people even worse than they are. People actually believe that rehabilitation programs are a sign of weakness from the authorities. They think that criminals should not get the opportunity of learning various skills. Most continue to feel this way until they are put in direct contact with the concept of incarceration, through themselves or someone close being threatened with captivity. Also, those that are pro-punishment are surprised when they come across an individual that had just been released from prison without going through rehabilitation.

Punishment supporters are certain that the more severe a punishment is, the more corrected will be the one that has to experience… READ MORE

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