Rehabilitation vs. Punishment Goals of Prisons
In this essay I will focus on whether law offenders sent to prison
should be rehabilitated, punished or both. In my opinion I have a
fairly bias view towards punishing the criminal as I feel that people
do not have to be deviant yet some chose to be; however I will discuss
both usefulness of rehabilitation and the disadvantages of this.
With doing research for this essay I noticed that the majority of
crimes were committed by the poorest of society (tend to be more of
the unemployed council house families) and such crimes committed by
this part of society is frowned upon; yet a crime committed by someone
higher in the social hierarchy is most uncommon (yet it does happen
perhaps its not publicised as much due to the whole Marxist theory of
the bourgeoisies exploiting the people below). The work of Clarke and
Mayhew can help support this idea because they believed that
delinquency are results of choice. With this in mind this theory from
Clarke and Mayhew is an excellent perception of how crime is committed
and is one reason as to why I think prisons should be to punish as
offenders should not be allowed a second chance. I feel that the
crimes committed which causes any inconvenience to other humans such
as murder, G.B.H, rape and stealing from others should result in
capital punishment however as capital punishment is not used nowadays
in the united kingdom I feel that criminals committing such crimes
should be locked up with no luxuries and should not even be allowed
such privileges as exercise.
Attached to this essay is an article from the BBC which shows the
increase in the num...
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... to be taken from some methods which will most likely result in taxes
unless its funded through an organisation or voluntary work through
interactionalism counsellors, who may decide to aid prisoners as they
feel they would like to play some part in helping prisoners conform.
If we our living in a post modern world then the theory "anything
goes" would justify that there may be fewer criminals in prison
because justice may not always prevail. Furthermore the best option
available I feel would be to find a suitable balance between
rehabilitating and punishing, as this would offer an incentive not to
commit crimes if the punishment was severe resulting in the prisoner
never wanting to be a non-conformist; and rehabilitating them allows
them to "better" themselves by educating themselves and learning about
responsibility.
There has always been an opinion on the correct way to deal with criminals. This will be yet another, but by me. The ways of dealing with criminals is not easy, and there is technically not a definite way to do so. But in my opinion, among the many goals of corrections, the ways I can agree on are a combination of rehabilitation and deterrence. These two things are completely opposite of one another, but used at the appropriate times, to the appropriate inmates, it could work in a positive way.
Davis discusses the history of the justice system and how the Penitentiary replaced capitol and corporal punishment. She defines Penitentiary as “Imprisonment was regarded as rehabilitative and the penitentiary prison was devised to provide convicts with the conditions for reflecting on their crimes and, through penitence, for reshaping their habits even their souls.3” though the idea of the penitentiary is arguable a new idea during the American Revolution. The penitentiary process was so that prisoners could learn from what they have done by a process of separation and rehabilitation. After slavery and during the early 20th century the level of crime rates rose during the early 1920’s to 1940’s. In the Article Less crime more punishment Adler4,
"Deviance, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. There is nothing inherently deviant in any human act, something is deviant only because some people have been successful in labeling it so." – J.L. Simmons
Prisons and correctional facilities in the United States have changed from rehabilitating people to housing inmates and creating breeding grounds for more violence. Many local, state, and federal prisons and correctional facilities are becoming more and more overcrowded each year. If the Department of Corrections (DOC) wants to stop having repeat offenders and decrease the volume of inmates entering the criminal justice system, current regulations and programs need to undergo alteration. Actions pushed by attorneys and judges, in conjunction current prison life (including solitary confinement), have intertwined to result in mass incarceration. However, prisoner reentry programs haven’t fully impacted positively to help the inmate assimilate back into society. These alterations can help save the Department of Corrections (DOC) money, decrease the inmate population, and most of all, help rehabilitate them. After inmates are charged with a crime, they go through the judicial system (Due Process) and meet with the prosecutor to discuss sentencing.
Sentencing refers to the imposition of a criminal sanction by a judicial authority. Our society looks to sentencing to achieve an assortment of goals. A Legislator’s view point of these goals for punishment will affect their decisions of sentencing. The five goals that legislators consider are: retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation, and restoration. Each of these goals will be discussed and how they all correspond with each other in a sentencing of the death penalty.
Since social norms and rules are subject to change, there is a wide concept as to what deviance actually means. The concept of social deviance is explained as the transgression of socially established norms. For example, there is a wide variety in defining social deviance, but one might consider “sex before marriage” deviant, whereas in other places this practice is common. Also, killing someone might be considered deviant until we do further research. One might propose the question of self-defense, and this is where the “ABC’s of deviance” come to play. I was interested in social deviance because it filled a gap of ignorance for me. Often times I wondered why people performed deviant acts and what was their motive. By understanding social control I was able to fill that gap with knowledge.
Unfortunately, the criminal justice system is a vital piece of today’s society. Without it, the public would be free to do whatever they choose with no real consequence to negative actions. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 3 million workers were employed in the criminal justice field in 2015 (Occupational Employment, 2016). This is made up of countless different agencies, including law enforcement, corrections, homeland security, and many more. Corrections is a key element in the criminal justice system, which has its own unique functional philosophy, administrative structure and functions, theoretical assumptions that govern its existence, organizational mission, goals and objectives, and division of responsibilities.
Deviant behavior is sociologically defined as, when someone departs from the “norms”. Most of the time when someone says deviance they think against the law or acting out in a negative behavior. To sociologists it can be both positive and negative. While most crimes are deviant, they are not always. Norms can be classified into two categories, mores and folkways. Mores are informal rules that are not written; when mores are broken, they can have serious punishments and sanctions. Folkways are informal rules that are just expected to be followed, but have no real repercussions.
"...social groups create deviance by making rules whose infraction creates deviance, and by applying those roles to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by other of rules and sanctions to an 'offender.' The deviant is one to whom that label has been successfully applied; deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label." Becker (1963)
Deviance is amongst other things a consequence of the response of others to a persons act. Students of deviance can not assume that they are dealing with a homogenous category. When they study people who have been labelled deviant (Howard Becker)
Capital Punishment Removes Rehabilitation from Incarceration Capital Punishment refers to the sentence or decision to a capital crime such as murder, rape, or assault. Many times, the sentence is life in prison or execution. Currently, the United States is the only western democracy that still has execution on the books. An alternative to execution is life imprisonment, which is common throughout the world. There are many features, however of life imprisonment that are debated.
With the substantial increase in prison population and various changes that plague correctional institutions, government agencies are finding that what was once considered a difficult task to provide educational programs, inmate security and rehabilitation programs are now impossible to accomplish. From state to state each correctional organization is coupled with financial problems that have depleted the resources to assist in providing the quality of care in which the judicial system demands from these state and federal prisons. Judges, victims, and prosecuting attorneys entrust that once an offender is turned over to the correctional system, that the offender will receive the punishment in which was imposed by the court, be given services that aid in the rehabilitation to those offenders that one day will be released back into society, and to act as a deterrent to other criminals contemplating criminal acts that could result in their incarceration. Has our nations correctional system finally reached it’s critical collapse, and as a result placed or American citizens in harm’s way to what could result in a plethora of early releases of inmates to reduce the large prison populations in which independent facilities are no longer able to manage? Could these problems ultimately result in a drastic increase in person and property crimes in which even our own law enforcement be ineffective in controlling these colossal increases of crime against society?
“Doing projects really gives people self-confidence. Nothing is better than taking the pie out of the oven. What it does for you personally, and for your family 's idea of you, is something you can 't buy." - Martha Stewart. Rehabilitated prisoners programs, for example, in the prisons are one of the most important programs in prison to address the causes of criminality and restore criminal’s self-confidence. Therefore, many governments are still taking advantage of their prisoners while they are in prison. However, some people believe that prison programs ' can improve and develop the criminals to be more professionals in their crimes. In addition, rehabilitated programs help inmates in the character building, ethical behavior, and develop
Sentencing is the imposition of a criminal sanction by a sentencing authority , such as a judge. Schmallger & Smykla, 2009, pg# 71) There are seven goals of sentencing including revenge, retribution, just deserts, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation and restoration. Revenge refers to a retaliation to some kind of assault and injury. Revenge can be a type of punishment for the criminal justice system. The jury, sometimes, basis there choices on emotions, facts and evidence. It is considered revenge in some cases because the victim's looks at it that way when they feel justice has been served. Retribution is a type of sentencing involving another form of retaliation. Retribution means "paying back" the offender for what he or she has done. ( Schmalleger & Smykla, 2009, pg# 73) The victim is not alone when it comes to being affected by the crime. Society is strongly affected by what a criminal does in whichever area he or she chooses. Retribution, in a good sense, would be if a coworker does her best as her job and her boss gave her a raise. This would be considered paying her back for her good deeds. As far as the criminal's heinous acts, retribution would more than likely be community service in the town were the crimes occurred. This form of sentencing gives a sort of relief to society
Deviance is a socially constructed idea that takes many shapes and forms throughout human history. It can be defined in many different ways, can be applied to many different settings and numerous types of bodies. Throughout the course, the social construct of deviance presents itself in multiple readings. For instance, in the article written by Jennifer Morgan, deviance is socially constructed by European males and applied onto African female bodies.