Our current day prison system's purpose is to keep society safe. Yes, it may be successful at isolating gang members so that they aren't causing harm to the rest of society, but the problem is not being solved. The lack of rehabilitation is causing the American people to pay taxes on a failing system and the increasing criminal rate. In the article Punishment vs. Rehabilitation: A Proposal for Revising Sentencing Practices the authors describe how and why our current system is failing. Our current system is trying to punish and inflict fear into the gang members, expecting change in behavior. Change can only occur with a change of lifestyle, help, and compassion. Gang members want to belong to something and for them their gangs are their identification/family. Their actions are not necessarily their intentions, but their means of survival. Once they are marked with a criminal record and a bad reputation, killing their opportunity to provide economically for themselves. The sensible response is to make yourself part of a buisness/gang and to sell to a demanding market (drug deal). Our prison system is causing our criminals to put themselves deeper into their gangs. They have nothing when they finish their term, so of course they will return to their only means of belonging. However, rehabilitation is the solution to this problem. Rehabilitation would help the gang member find something positive to do in society, while still providing economically. This change of lifestyle will decrease the crime rate in society and the recidivism rates, but we first need to realize that our current system is flawed and that rehabilitation and hard punishment do not coexist.
No comments:
Post a Comment