Is Incarceration The Only Solution To Crime In Society? | Quick Homework Help
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Is Incarceration The Only Solution To Crime In Society?
Incarceration has been the preferred method of punishing criminals in many states. Other methods of dealing with criminals include death sentence, fines, and physical punishment among others. These methods are employed in diverse situations depending on the nature of the crime committed. Though the last sentence seems to be the ultimate means of reducing crime, it is often faced with rejection especially from human rights activists and religious leaders. They term death penalty as an unjust way of dealing with lawbreakers since it entails killing a human being (National Policy Committee 3).
On the other side, fines and physical punishments are sometimes impossible to compare to the kind of crime committed. For instance, there are not enough fines or physical punishments that can be inflicted on an individual guilty of killing or raping another person. This is because the effects of murder and rape are immeasurable (JFA-Associates 7). Thus, one would pause and ask if incarceration is the only solution to Crime in the Society? This paper will discuss this question with arguments on both the supporting and opposing sides.
Incarceration is the Only Solution to Crime in the Society
Incarceration, and especially lifetime incarceration, are the best ways to condone crime in the society. This is because it deters the victim from committing similar or different crimes. If one is sentenced to life imprisonment for robbing a bank, he will never commit such a crime again in his lifetime. This remains true unless one is discharged back to the society through amnesty or accidentally sneaks from prison. Compared to the death penalty, this method does not involve killing, act that is objected by religious leaders and human rights activists (National Policy Committee 6).
Secondly, incarceration involves segregation of the victim of the society either for some time or in their lifetime. The kind of life that criminals are experiencing while in prison is never appealing for anyone. Consequently, imprisoning criminals scare potential persons from engaging in crime due to the fear of incarceration and the penalties associated with the prison stay. Methods of punishment such as fines and physical punishments always offer the criminal a chance to live their free life in the society; therefore, they do not serve to deter crime activities. Drug traffickers are often wealthy people who may not be deterred from committing the crime by physical punishments or cash fines. They would continue trafficking drugs and risk paying hefty fines once convicted rather than abstaining in the fear of cheap fines. Therefore, imprisonment (and perhaps life imprisonment) would be the most appropriate way to scare potential persons from engaging in crime (National Policy Committee 13).
Whereas imprisonment has been in use in many countries, it does not seem to lower the rate of crime. Therefore, it is noted that imprisonment does not succeed in lowering crime rates, but it leads to better results when mixed with other methods. It has to be combined with other means such as physical punishment and rehabilitation. Some countries have prisons that are more like leisure centers with television sets in cells, comfortable beds, and pleasant meals. These are not the type of prisons to deter crime in the case of the poor population. In essence, prisons should be such that once someone has been there, they would never wish to repeat the experience. The unpleasant living conditions coupled with rehabilitation and vocational training sessions are the best way to deter crime in the society. Upon dismissal, one would hate to commit a crime and go back to the unpleasant life. On the other side, they would have gained the skills necessary for earning them a living; therefore, crime will no longer be of preference.
On another note, incarceration is the best way to deter crime in the society as it extends the criminal a chance to re-evaluate their acts and make personal decisions not to re-engage in crime. Most criminals who are convicted for drug trafficking are young boys and girls who do not commit crime under personal wish. They work under wealthy drug barons who use them to transport drugs to clients in payment of a few coins. Holding them in prison and having them undergo counseling opens up their minds to real life. They are meant to realize that there are better ways of gaining funds which are not punishable, and that there is more to life than crime. Once they are released back to their society, they would take this as a second chance to live a better life, and they will also serve as role models to their peers (Lonchner 28).
Incarceration is not the Only Solution to Crime in the Society
On the other side, incarceration is not the only solution to crime in the society. In fact, imprisonment works to reduce crime from the victims only and not from other potential persons in the society. Once a person is sentenced to life imprisonment, crime level is reduced by the capacity of one individual. In some exceptional circumstances, this person can in one way or another find his way out of prison and commit further crimes. Likewise, once an individual is incarcerated, they are never completely deterred from engaging in crime. There are usually cases of inmates killing their fellows or raping them while serving their sentences. With the idea that one is meant to stay in prison until their day of death, they tend to gain aggressive behavior towards their fellow inmates. Also, drug trafficking remains high in prisons among inmates; therefore, imprisonment is not the best way to deter crime (UNODC 41-42).
Secondly, imprisonment grants criminals a right to carry on with their lives despite the nature of their crime. In fact, if one person had been allowed to live out of prison, that individual would probably suffer an early death from citizens and the police. Consequently, serial criminals may prefer to charge the most monstrous crime which would out rightly lead them to a safer place such as the prison other than facing the wrath of citizens. Criminals are constantly ready to undergo whatever type of suffering, but similar to human beings, they are afraid of failing. In such an instance, the death penalty remains the only way to scare potential persons from engaging in crime. Unlike imprisonment that grants the criminals a second chance to engage in crime, death penalty leaves crimes with a zero percent probability of engaging in crime (UNODC 19).
The rate of recidivism does not seem to be lowered by imprisonment rather by the corrective measures that are undertaken on the criminals while in prison. Earlier, prisons were meant to be places of private confinement with corporal punishments that would leave some criminals dead even before completing their term of service. Those who managed to survive the beatings and were released back to the society had higher probabilities of re-engaging in crime. The harsh treatment in prison would somehow harden them such that they would be ready to survive in any harsh environment. To such people, the threat of incarceration would not be a thing to frighten them from engaging in crime. They would term themselves as heroes and consequently they would not suffer any fear while committing a crime (JFA-Associates 21).
Alternatively, other than waiting until a crime occurs so as to seek for the best means to prevent it from re-occurring, the best solution to crime in the society is deterrence. This entails undertaking certain measures that establish the society un-conducive for criminal activities. These include tough security measures, which would ensure zero crime rate and counseling centers to discourage the youth who are most vulnerable from engaging in crime (UNODC 19).
Conclusion
There appears to be no single method that is acceptable to everyone for deterring crime in the society. The death penalty seems to work best since it does away with the particular criminal while scaring other potential victims, but it is often faced with rejection. This is because it entails taking away of human life and it is an irreversible method which has no correction if executed by the wrong person. Cash fines only work for particular crimes such as robbery, but in crimes such as rape and murder this method faces challenges. The sole means of punishing remains incarceration which entails seasonal or permanent imprisonment of the criminal as a way of deterring crime. To a certain extent, it works out well since once a person is sentenced into life imprisonment, he may never gain the opportunity to commit crime activities again. However, it is likewise faced with numerous challenges such as the risk of committing criminal actions while in jail and the fact that the conditions in prison may not be harsh enough so as to discourage other potential criminals from engaging in crime.
This is to imply that there is no single method that is self satisfactory in as far as curbing crime is concerned. Each method is defined in a way that demands to be complimented by another so as to attain a perfect solution for crime in the society. Accordingly, various methods of deterring crime have to be employed simultaneously so as to lower crime rates in the society. Many people consider imprisonment as the best way to discourage criminal activities. The physical separation from family and friends and punishments seem to be better at deterring crime than fines or the death penalty. The society feels justice is done when a criminal is sentenced to imprisonment for a crime other than when they are meant to pay cash fines.
In summary, incarceration remains the only just solution to crime in the society. Consequently, it ought to be incorporated with skills training so as to reduce the chances of recidivism. Though training is expensive and appears unjust as it uses the taxes paid by innocent citizens, the long-term benefit is worth. Together with punishments received in prison, criminals can also be trained in vital life skills which they can utilize to make a living when paroled back to the club. The cost of training inmates is high, but that of losing lives and property due to recidivism is higher.
Works Cited
JFA-Associates. Unlocking America. Why and How to Reduce Americas Prison Population,
2007. Web Source. http://www.jfa-associates.com/publications/srs/UnlockingAmerica.pdf. Retrieved on 13th November 2013.
Lonchner Lance & Moretti Enrico. The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison
Inmates, Arrests, and Self-Reports, 2003. Web Source. http://emlab.berkeley.edu/~moretti/lm46.pdf. Retrieved on 13th November 2013.
McVay Doug, Schiraldi Vincent & Ziedenberg, Jason. Treatment or Incarceration? National and
State Findings on Efficacy and Cost Savings of Drug Treatment Versus Imprisonment, 2004. Web Source. http://www.justicepolicy.org/uploads/justicepolicy/documents/04-01_rep_mdtreatmentorincarceration_ac-dp.pdf. Retrieved on 13th November 2013.
National Policy Committee. The Use of Incarceration in the United States. National Policy White
Paper American Society of Criminology, 2000. Web Source. http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~oliver/RACIAL/Reports/ascincarcerationdraft.pdf. Retrieved on 13th November 2013.
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Handbook of basic Principles and
Promising Practices on Alternatives to Imprisonment, 2007. Web Source. https://www.unodc.org/pdf/criminal_justice/Handbook_of_Basic_Principles_and_Promising_Practices_on_Alternatives_to_Imprisonment.pdf. Retrieved on 13th November 2013.
