When you come to this page, you may want to know the reason why rehabilitation is important in prisons and better than punishment. To find that explanation, you have to read this article until the end.
What is Rehabilitation and Punishment?
Before we explain the reasons why rehabilitation is important in prisons and better than punishment, now we have to know what rehabilitation and punishment is. You have to know that rehabilitation is a process in which an inmate is given a chance to realize her/his offense. Also, rehabilitation gives an inmate a chance to learn how she/he can change the mindset to prevent crime in the future. While punishment puts the inmate behind the bars of the cell so that she or he can think of her/his offense. The process of this punishment is a harsh way of making the inmates realize their mistakes, thus punishment can often become counterproductive.
Why is Rehabilitation Important and Better Than Punishment?
To find out the reasons why rehabilitation is important and better than punishment, you have to check out the explanation below.
- Through rehabilitation, the re-entry of the inmate into society is easier. While punishment does not offer any help to the inmates, they are on their own in the cell of a prison.
- Mostly, rehabilitation is not being used on the adult inmates rather it’s being given to the Juvenile inmates. While punishments are mostly used for adult inmates.
- Rehabilitation has different programs such as drug addict rehab programs, violent behavior rehab programs etc. While punishments are not typically followed by a set program. The inmates are on their own to work on their issue. The ability to reintegrate into the society depends upon the individual’s efforts.
- The programs of rehabilitation are less costly and more effective. While punishments are more costly. The amount of money spent on one inmate per year can be up to $70.000.
So, this brings us to the point that rehabilitation is a better option than punishment because rehabilitation will help an inmate become a good citizen and live a normal life. AS a society, it is everyone’s responsibility to get rid of a broken person.
One day, the criminal mindset in the society will be harmful, thus it is the responsibility of every citizen for supporting rehabilitation programs so that the society can have more peace and fewer crimes. Through the program of rehabilitation, it can ensure that the majority of the society is law abiding.
Effectiveness of Rehabilitation in Prisons
Now, we are going to talk about the effectiveness of rehabilitation. Need to know that rehabilitation will make sure that the inmate learns from mistakes and becomes a reformed citizen. Punishment is just a method of making an inmate pay for the crime committed. However, it will not change his or her behavior. Punishment has the goal to serve justice, whereas rehabilitation has a wider goal. Rehabilitation has the goal to improve the overall situation of society by reforming criminals.
Punishments such as death sentences can seem like severe punishments, but they are not effective in rehabilitating inmates or preventing other people from committing crimes. The inmates who commit extremely serious crimes such as murder will come from background of rehabilitation so they are going to have been subjected to punishments as a person that reinforces the idea that punishment does not work. Punishment such as imprisonment will be able to lead to prison subculture. This is where the inmates support crime and criminals, because they are made to feel as if they belong in jail or prison by being deprived of their freedom being disrespected and being punished too physically.
Of course, rehabilitation has a better opportunity of working, as it makes the inmates feel wanted and needed whereas punishment is able to lead them to feel helpless and worthless. Punishing an inmate will be able to cause resentment from the community thus reducing their opportunities of becoming accepted again. Punishing an inmate sets them apart from society, making their integration back into normal life difficult. Also, punishment does not explain to the inmate what they did wrong and how to make up for it. Punishment will be able to cause criminals to feel anger towards their victim, society and correctional facility staff.
So, rehabilitation is better because the program of rehabilitation is specially designed with help from psychologists and criminologists. Those psychologists and criminologists will understand that punishment alone cannot eradicate crimes, thus they design the programs of rehabilitation according to the needs of each individual. Punishments will be able to change an inmate’s attitude in future crimes, but it does not work on all inmates who commit different types of crimes. Also, punishments do not give any explanation of what went wrong or why the crime was committed, therefore it does not prevent other people from committing similar crimes. Punishments are only a way of giving justice to the victims who have already suffered in several ways. Aside from that, punishments also do not explain to the inmates how they are able to make up for their crimes by helping other people.
This brings us to the point that rehabilitation is a better choice than punishment because rehabilitation would help an inmate become a good citizen and live a normal life. While punishment is only a method of making an inmate pay for the crime committed, it will not be able to change his or her behavior. Rehabilitation will make sure that the inmate learns from their mistakes and becomes a reformed citizen. Punishment purposes to serve justice, while rehabilitation has a wider objective. Rehabilitation purposes to improve the overall situation of society by reforming criminals. Punishments have its benefits because it discourages other people from committing crimes and acts as a deterrent.
Well, the text above is an explanation about what rehabilitation and punishment is, the reason why rehabilitation is important in prisons and better than punishment, and the effectiveness of rehabilitation in prisons. If you want to get more information, read other articles on our site.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
