The issue I have chosen is whether the prison system should focus more on rehabilitation or punishment and this is a controversial problem currently. The reasons for this debate are important to our society because of the growing rate of people incarcerated and then returning. Some believe that rehabilitation measures will help lower the recidivism rate. Recidivism is the likelihood that a person who has committed a crime will commit another offense. The percentage of prisoners released that return after committing another crime within the period of three years is 68%. Whereas others see that if you do the crime then you deserve to be punished and lose your freedoms. They believe if a person is incarcerated they will have time to reflect on what they have done and not want to be sent back to prison.

 

Rehabilitation is a growing option that people believe will be a better alternative to punishing criminals and incarcerated them. “Rehabilitation gives someone the chance to learn about his/her problems and offers one to learn how to change their behavior in order to not commit a crime” (GadekRadek n.d.,  pg.1). Unlike incarcerating someone for their max jail time then throwing them back into society, rehabilitation is a way to easy the offender back into society. This is one of the biggest reasons people want to push this option so the recidivism and crime rates decrease. There is evidence to show that rehabilitation methods have worked in the past such as in the late 1900s rehabilitation was a prominent factor in the U.S prison system. As years went on punishment was more of the concern and crime rates grew.  

Rehabilitation is also wanted for the fact that prison systems do not give a person the help they need to get better. For example, if a person needs a drug, alcohol, or violence rehabilitation they would get it through rehabilitative programs. “Today, somewhere between 15 and 20% of people in prison are mentally ill” (American Psychology Association n.d, pg. 1)

On the other hand, punishment and incarceration is the top option for people who commit crimes. “Punishment puts offenders in the confines of a cell in order to think about the crime he/she has committed” (GadekRadek n.d.,  pg.1). People need to know there are consequences to their actions like if someone knows they will only have to go through a rehabilitative program and not do physical time they will not learn their lesson. Within the prison system, there are programs that the prisons can do such as having drug or counseling on how to be a better parent. One of the main reasons for punishment is so victim’s families get closure. If a family member is taken from them, then they expect that the person who did it at least lose their freedoms. Another good aspect of incarceration is the fact that the prisoners can get their GED and education so when they are released they can get jobs.  Some educational opportunities are high school diplomas and vocational. 

 

I support incarceration but also programming within the prison system. Programs are important to ensure the prisoners are getting the necessary help and are also being prepared for life when they are released. These programs can include education, employment, or counseling. I think it’s crucial for the prisoners to leave the prison with more knowledge and better attributes than they came in with. I find it important that whether its the educators or social workers that they treat the prisoner with kindness and respect. People tend to learn and display certain behaviors depending on how they are treated.

Another aspect that requires incarceration or punishment to be a part of the prison system is how severe the crime is. It is not okay for a person to murder someone and only get off with only having to go through a rehabilitation program or see a psychologist. That person is clearly a threat to society and needs to serve physical time to reflect on what they have done. After going through the prison system a lot of people do not want to go back because they do not like to be confined or told what to do.

It’s important to give some background and statistics into the ins and outs of the prison system. The reason some people want to push for a rehabilitation system is because of how expensive it is to incarcerate a person. “The average cost in the U.S of incarceration for federal inmates in 2015 was $31,977.65 a year” (Student 2017, pg.1). What is annoying about this large money amount is that the American citizens are the ones who pay for it. The system needs a way for the prison system to be more effective and less expensive. Below are some charts of different statistical data and demographics within the prison system.

Overall there are benefits but also downfalls to both sides of this debate. On one side you have rehabilitation, that wants to send criminals through programs based on their mental issues, physical issues, or crime. The rehabilitation side also doesn’t think the offenders should be locked up. Whereas the incarceration or punishment side believes if you do the crime then there are consequences for your actions like serving physical time confined.

This issue between rehabilitation vs punishment can be connected to the sociological concept of social interaction. “Our social selves are always set up for potential change as we move from one social location to another” (4.3). As people change social groups or locations it is sometimes hard to figure out how to act. When an offender is sent to prison for a drug charge and now they are surrounded by murders it can affect how they start to behave. After being sent to prison the criminals often come out worse because of the social interaction they have with other criminals that may be worse than them.

Which side people choose can also be affected by culture and the country. “People use the word culture to refer to all sorts of things, from art to traditions to individual learned behavior” (6.1). The prison system and how they go about treating their prisons can be affected by the culture of the area or country in general. Unlike in the U.S, the UK justice system does not believe prisoners should get any luxuries while confined. Whereas in the U.S the prisoners have televisions and games. The U.S incarcerates more criminals per capita than any other country in the world. The UK turns away low crime offenders and allows them to do rehab.

 

(n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2020, fromhttps://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug03/rehab

(n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://revel-ise.pearson.com/courses/5e2cdd9de4b08b3e963a6d47/pages/afc8b2773dd193bad06f8d920f7c2950cae9118cb?source=contents

5 Rewarding Types of Rehabilitation for Inmates. (2017, December 28).        Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://web.connectnetwork.com/rehabilitation-for-inmates/ 

Article written by Radek GadekRadek holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Boston University. He is currently doing consulting work and runs this blog to provide relevant information on criminal justice degrees. (n.d.). Rehabilitation Versus Punishment in the Adult Justice System. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://criminaljusticeonlineblog.com/11/rehabilitation-versus-punishment-in-the-adult-justice-system/

File:United States correctional population.svg. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_correctional_population.svg 

Prison Could Be Productive. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/12/18/prison-could-be-productive/punishment-fails-rehabilitation-works

Prison Time for Drug Users. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://dualdiagnosis.org/jail-time-drug-users/ 

Services, H. (2019, November 11). Federal judge says Arizona prisons too broadly censor publications inmates can see. Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://tucson.com/news/local/federal-judge-says-arizona-prisons-too-broadly-censor-publications-inmates-can-see/article_5f2ea721-03cc-520c-8350-1367c5fcd045.html 

Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay Professor of Economics. (2020, May 27). Why rehabilitation – not harsher prison sentences – makes economic sense. Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://theconversation.com/why-rehabilitation-not-harsher-prison-sentences-makes-economic-sense-132213

Student, B. (2017, April 23). Prisons: Reform or Punishment? Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://medium.com/fhsaplang/prisons-reform-or-punishment-2ce135a108c7

Wagner, W. (n.d.). Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html 

Who Is Recidivist? What Are The Causes of Recidivism … (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://lawcorner.in/who-is-recidivist-what-are-the-causes-of-recidivism/