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Punishment or Rehabilitation?

Punishment or Rehabilitation?

  • Total voters
    24
I think THE ONLY point of jail is rehabilitation. I think our jails should engage in brainwashing and send all our extreme criminals to first be extensively brainwashed for years tills they can function as a part of our military. The "punishment" is giving up your rights to live as a citizen, because you broke the rules. It's not the governments place to Morally judge or condemn someone but to exclude the dangerous person from society and hopefully one day re-administering (depending on the severity) into society as a functional citizen. The government judges based on the crime how long it would take for the individual to be in, what procedures that need to be taken, and whether the citizen will ever be able to go back into regular society.

If a harsh criminal stays in solitary confinement and has a tape playing over and over for months saying "i will be a good citizen", and further lists laws and the constitution. I think he'll be rehabilitated :D
 
It is completely baffling that anyone would think that rehabilitation should not be part of the mix. Think it through: if we aren't interested in trying to rehabilitate them, yet we are going to release them, then we are intentionally releasing people we have made no effort to rehabilitate... That is, people who are still dangerous. Now, admittedly, this is the madness that is the current paradigm, but really, it is nevertheless baffling.

If anyone on here who has said they don't care about rehabilitation later says they were victimized by a repeat offender, I do wonder if I should feel any sympathy. To be clear, I would still want the criminal behind bars, to protect others, but it is really stupid to be against rehabilitation and then have an expectation that society will be safer.
 
The incarceration system is increasingly about cheap labor for private industry. There are more laws now for crimes than at any other time in our country's short history.

Rehabilitation is good but I don't think it's enough. I'm a fan of restorative justice. It's not just about individuals but entire communities. Crime starts as a thought practice within the social fabric before it ever manifests as an act. If we really want to change the status of crime we have to change the minds of communities.
 
Both. Prison must do three things. It must punish the guilty, protect society and prepare the criminal for an eventual return to society. If it doesn't do all three, then prison isn't the proper place for the individual to be.
 
The question is a false dichotomy. A useful justice system will do both as part of its role in protecting society. Punishment act as deterrence while rehabilitation provides hope. It is a basic carrot and stick approach to influencing a person. Threaten to lock them in a box if they are bad while offering a better lifestyle if they are good.

Many of the flaws in the American justice system are because the system fails to provide both requirements. Drug crimes have severe rehabilitation problems because prison is essentially a training ground and networking club for gangs. White collar crime has both limited prosecution and weak punishment, so there is little deterrence to illegal behavior.
 
Death penalty needs to be used for more crimes such as Rape,Child Molestation etc...and needs to be carried out quicker..hell with letting these scum sit on death row for 20 years I say take em out back put a bullet in back of head and then bury them saves money.
 
zturn harsh criminals into slaves, they basically are anyway. :mrgreen:
 
Punishment is the product of an archaic mindset. You cannot make someone a better person by hurting them.

That said, many criminals cannot be rehabilitated and our society must have some fashion of addressing them.
 
digsbe said:
Should the goal of our justice system be punishment or rehabilitation of criminals? The number of prisoners has been drastically rising. It's expensive to incarcerate individuals, and I personally believe we would have a better society and a more productive justice system if rehabilitation took precedence over raw punishment. What do you think is more important? Please explain
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Jail time should be verbotten for victimless crimes. This category includes, but is not limited to, drug use, drug possession, drug sales to adults, prostitution, gambling, and all the over "sins".

Next, to reduce the expense of keeping people in jail, start shooting the murdering bastards. Bullets cost less than a buck, so let's get serious about saving the taxpayer money. Redefine the appeals process, Mumia abooboo Jamar cop killer, should have been executed within 365 days of his conviction. Jose Avilla, child raper and killer who left his DNA in his five year old victim, should have been dead years ago. Entire generations of worms have been denied their right to food because bleeding heart assholes have implemented rules that keep the obviously guilty alive.

Then, clearly, de-unionize the prison guards, its not a "profession" that requires irreplaceable people.

That's just for starters. Implement those reforms and re-assess after a few years.

As for the punishment aspect, hell YES. For the real crimes that criminals should be locked up for, by all means make sure they're as uncomfortable as possible. Certainly make sure the food meets the LOWEST standards of the FDA guidelines. Make sure the convict isn't allowed a high protein diet to "bulk up" on. Take away the weights, the basketballs, the footballs. Make prison even more boring than it already is. Let them watch CSPAN and Sesame Street.

Let them have the time alone they need to ponder the reasons they're there. Don't let them fill their time associating with other criminals. That should be kept to the purest minimum.
 
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Depends on the crime really. A lot of times putting them in the system makes them come back just because the system doesn't prepare them for release. I watch a lot of Locked Up when I get bored and have nothing to do, pretty decent show makes you understand the issue better to I think.
 
1. Safety of public. Basic public facilities.
2. Rehab such that repeating the need for 1, above, is less likely. This should cost less than continued or habitual incarceration, use private firms and have results-based contracts.

Punishment? Using this reason is like trying to convince someone too limited to grasp the point. The goverment seeks to ensure the safety of the public, not vengeance for individuals. Justice is fair treatment under the law, not personal satisfaction.



GoodOleBoy said:
Death penalty needs to be used for more crimes such as Rape,Child Molestation etc...and needs to be carried out quicker..hell with letting these scum sit on death row for 20 years I say take em out back put a bullet in back of head and then bury them saves money.
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Why waste the bullet and real estate? I don't agree with capital punishment, but I'm wondering about your authorized expenditure in a cost-sensitive analysis.
 
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digsbe said:
Should the goal of our justice system be punishment or rehabilitation of criminals? The number of prisoners has been drastically rising. It's expensive to incarcerate individuals, and I personally believe we would have a better society and a more productive justice system if rehabilitation took precedence over raw punishment. What do you think is more important? Please explain
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I think the justice system needs to realize that the education system is probably what created the criminal. They can make decisions knowing this fact.

Except if it is a sex crime.
 
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Parents make criminals. Don't be such a top-down commie.

It takes a village to grow a criminal.
 
digsbe said:
Should the goal of our justice system be punishment or rehabilitation of criminals? The number of prisoners has been drastically rising. It's expensive to incarcerate individuals, and I personally believe we would have a better society and a more productive justice system if rehabilitation took precedence over raw punishment. What do you think is more important? Please explain
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In cases where the offender is not a danger to themselves or others, rehabilitation is both cheaper and can have a pretty good track record.
 
Rehabilitation is a myth its proven that recidivist convicts do not respond to any counciling or such approachs unless of course psychological where they medicate them.
Most change in career criminals begins to occur in middle 30s...outside forces and programs do little if nothing to change that...its an incredibly expensive waste of money.
 
ecofarm said:
Parents make criminals. Don't be such a top-down commie.

It takes a village to grow a criminal.
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Hw long y'all been saying that? 126 years? Face it that the parents are not going to raise the kids and take on some responsibily for their outcome in life. Do your damn job and stop blaming it on the parents!
 
Many things create a criminal. You can come from the best family in the world you can still be a bad man.
 
JohnWOlin said:
Many things create a criminal. You can come from the best family in the world you can still be a bad man.
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Yeah, and that includes God. I'm sick of teachers throwing their hands up and blaming the parents. Maybe that's what's wrong. Maybe that's why kids can't even say please and thank you. It's criminal what they have done to the poor. Especially black males. They never had a chance.
 
sazerac said:
Yeah, and that includes God. I'm sick of teachers throwing their hands up and blaming the parents. Maybe that's what's wrong. Maybe that's why kids can't even say please and thank you. It's criminal what they have done to the poor. Especially black males. They never had a chance.
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yeah, I'm sure that being the child of a "baby daddy" who ****ed their mother and then left has nothing to do with it. it's all the teacher's fault. :roll:

If the kid calls his grandmother "mommy" and his mother "Pam", he's going to jail.
 
Rehabilitation.

Everyone makes stupid things sometimes. One must have the chance of redemption.
 
Canell said:
Rehabilitation.

Everyone makes stupid things sometimes. One must have the chance of redemption.
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Morally, I agree. Rehabilitation is the more moral option. However, in terms of what works (which may or may not align to my moral sense), I think it depends on the crime. If someone is a not a danger to others, some sort of program where they have to regularly prove that they are towing the line is both cheaper than jail and keeps them away from potential bad influences (other hardened criminals). Of course that is not always practical, but where it is, we should do it. I also believe such programs should focus on teaching the person any life skills they may be lacking, to give them a chance at a regular life after their time is over.

If the person is a danger, we need to keep them separate for that sake if nothing else. However, ultimately the goal should be in creating productive citizens where possible and defending society where it is not possible.
 
Neither, the purpose of the prison system is to make our society safe and punish individuals for bad behaviours.
 
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