Explanation:
The purpose of prison is to make the offender realize that they have done something wrong due to which they are being punished. But what is the result of this? The main goal behind punishment is to curb crime by punishing the offenders so that they refrain from doing the crime in the future, but has this goal been achieved? Let’s see.
The psychologists are of the opinion that the current situation of the prisons has increased the number of offenders coming to the prisoners because of nature and practices that are being adopted in the jails.
In the late ’70s, the prisons’ prime focus was on the rehabilitation of the offenders, and it was part of the US prison policy. The offenders were allowed to learn some skills and work on their mental health through proper consultation with the psychologists so that they can be reintegrated into society.
Since then, rehabilitation has taken a back seat, and the “get tough on crimes” has been adopted, which means that the offenders will be punished rather than rehabilitated. The statistics show that this policy of getting tough on crimes has been counterproductive. The number of offenders in prisons has increased, and the crime rate is also growing constantly.
Rehabilitation is a process in which an offender is given a chance to realize his/her offense and learn how he/she can change the mindset to prevent crime in the future. In other words, rehabilitation is the criminal mind’s soft processing to reintegrate it back to society.
On the other hand, Punishment (Incarceration) puts the offender behind the bars of the cell so that he can think of his offense. The process is a harsh way of making criminals realize their mistakes, but punishments can often become counterproductive.
Point being rehabilitation is a much better option than punishment because it would help an offender become a peaceful citizen and live a normal life. Secondly, as a society, it is everyone’s responsibility to fix a broken person. One might think that until and unless it is not harmful to me, I shall stay away from it, but that’s not the case.
One day or another, the criminal mindset in the society will become harmful for you; therefore, it is the responsibility of every citizen to support rehabilitation programs so that they society can have more peace and fewer crimes.
Through the rehabilitation programs, it can be ensured that the majority of the segment of society is law abiding rather than few people abiding by the law.
