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Title : Criminal Justice Should Focus More on Rehabilitation Than Punishment

Article in SSRN Electronic Journal · November 2020

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3727711

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Author : Samson B. Baraza

Title : Criminal Justice Should Focus More on Rehabilitation Than Punishment

Criminal Justice Should Focus More on Rehabilitation Than Punishment

Introduction

Various distinct stages are comprised within the criminal justice system, including arrest,
prosecution, trial, sentencing, and punishment (often in the form of imprisonment). How
prisoners are treated in a number of countries is a contentious political debate that is
accompanied with different views and understandings. Upon restoring the much-needed balance
within the justice system, the chances of prisoners reoffending are diminished significantly in a
bid to create a better society for other individuals. In the present society, criminals are ever-
increasing as days go by. Arguably, the numbers might go higher, calling for the need to devise
ways through which governments and organizations can effectively curb the threat of higher
crime rates. Rehabilitation can take place in any of the stages within the criminal justice system
in a bid to curb criminals from reoffending in future. The concepts of rehabilitation and
punishment overshadow each other in various aspects, with punishment being a traditional mode
of treating inmates that has been passed down from various eras and dynasties, while
rehabilitation is a modern concept that has been legalized by various countries (Atkin-Plunk
218). By focusing more on rehabilitation that retribution, the criminal justice system will be
doing more than just putting criminals’ ways, as it makes it possible to actively identify factors
that could have encouraged these criminals to undertake their deviant ways.

Rehabilitation Vs. Punishment

Rehabilitation is an at where prisoners or law offenders get to know themselves while

performing retribution for their offences. On the other hand, punishment is another term for
torture to prisoners in relation to the offenses they have committed. Various nations punish
inmates as per their own criminal justice systems and the forms of punishments offered (Moss et
al., 33). Rehabilitation is an act that is clear and pure when compared to punishment. The
methods of rehabilitation abided by different countries are based on the interest of those
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countries and what they seek to achieve from rehabilitating criminals. Both punishment and
rehabilitation play a significant part in treating offenders (Moss et al., 34). Rehabilitation seeks
to educate individuals on the wrong choices they have made and encourages them to make better
choices in future. It recognizes that offenders may be victims of social economic conditions, who
may have committed offences based on their adjacent situations within society, and ultimately
wants to aid these offenders in learning from their mistakes and abstain from committing similar
crimes when they have been released (Atkin-Plunk 220). While there is a wider consensus that
tougher penalties are necessary and appropriate for criminal offenders convicted of serious
offences such as violence and sex offences, many policymakers question the effectiveness of
long imprison terms for individuals convicted for less serious crimes such as nonviolent drug
offenses.

The rehabilitation process involves various programs including education programs,

anger management, and even creative workshops to form other outlets for expression. The
Criminal Justice system delivers this option with the belief that through the rehabilitation
programs, criminal offenders will be less inclined to committing crimes in the future. It seeks to
prevent individuals from reoffending by taking away their desire to commit similar crimes in
future (Long 24). It is very different from the idea of deterrence, which seeks to ensure criminal
offenders resent committing crimes out of fear for being punished even though they may still
have the desire to commit these offences. Rehabilitation also defers from the idea of
incapacitation, which takes away the physical power of offenders offend, even though they may
still have the desire to offend and are unafraid to do so (Moss et al., 36). It is through
rehabilitation that the chances of an offender being integrated and accepted back into the society
is made possible since it is a testimony that the offenders’ behavior can still be shaped and
molded into the right behavior that is acceptable within the society (Weston 235). It places
significant values on the prisoners’ rights that it tries its best to change the behaviors of these
individuals and prevent them from reoffending in future.

Additionally, the retributive concept is that punishment should be determined mainly by

the seriousness of the offence itself, and not by the consequential factors, such as whether the
punishment is enough to deter other people in society from committing a similar offence. Rather,
the retributive nature of the punishment ought to establish grounds for which individuals can
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actively engage with and analyze the essence of adopting appropriate behaviors that are
conventionally acceptable within the society (Moss et al., 38). Rehabilitation should eb the
justification for imprisonment, as it promotes the humanizing belief that offenders are part of
society and that their behaviors can be changed without the need to subject them to punishment
(Moss et al., 39). On the other end, retribution sees punishment as an end to itself, since it only
makes the offender suffer from his actions and nothing else (Long 32). Punishment simply
subjects offenders behind bars and aims at ensuring they think about the offences they omitted
and possibly deter them from future reoffence. Rehabilitation takes into consideration that
imprisoning offenders without offering them any form of help that will help them to change their
behavior, simply offers an impartial solution to an issue that should be fixed for the benefit of the
society as a whole.

I believe that society does at least have the ultimate responsibility of fixing offenders who
behave in an unacceptable manner while relating with other individuals. It is imperative that the
criminal justice system finds effective measures that will aid in changing the behavior of these
offenders to establish a better society for all. Crime affects everyone in society, no matter what
level of involvement various individuals in the society contribute to the offence (Atkin-Plunk
231). Therefore, it is imperative that this society aims to fix the behavior of offenders and ensure
they abide by the desired societal behaviors. Whenever a crime is committed, incarceration
without rehabilitation offers a lesser effective process towards deterring offenders from the
crime. Rehabilitation does not ignore society and the individual (Weston 235). By seeking to
reduce crime by reducing reoffending, rehabilitation constructively reduces public nuisance and
shields other members of the society against similar crimes. Criminal justice system that focuses
more on retribution lacks the possibility of seeking to prevent reoffending from occurring, since
it fails to cure the offender of their desire to commit crime again rather than simply punishing
them for crimes committed.

Furthermore, many people processed within the criminal justice system are vulnerable to
reoffending in future if their behaviors are not impacted positively through the process. The
rehabilitative ideal conveys the message that the state has the obligation of helping individuals
who fall short of the standards of behavior that has been set for society (Long 43). Criminal
offenders are often individuals who have the greatest social disadvantages which have contained
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them to the life of crime. Rehabilitation recognizes the reality of social inequity among offenders
within the society (Atkin-Plunk 235). Stating that some offenders need help to be rehabilitated
signifies the acceptance that circumstances can constrain or compel and lead individuals to
criminality. Arguably, this demonstrates that we can help unfortunate individuals that have been
overcome by their circumstances, leading them to commit certain crimes contrary to societal
values and morals (Long 45). Rehabilitation rejects the perception that regardless of the position
individuals occupy in social order, they exercise equal ‘freedom in choosing whether they
commit a crime or abscond from the idea (Moss et al., 41). Therefore, these offenders should be
punished equally according to their offences and irrespective of their social backgrounds. Polities
ignoring these realities foster hardships that will fall disproportionately and primarily on the
already disadvantage, while deepening the resentment that many inmates find difficult to
suppress when released back into the society.

Arguably, the justification for punishment as an ideal process of the criminal justice
system implores that a sanction should not merely be helpful but rather it should treat the
offenses as wrongful conduct that ought not to be left unchecked. The purpose of punishment is
to show disapproval for offender’s wrongdoing, while condemning his/her criminal actions
(Weston 235). Punishment is offered as a retribution rather than aiding an individual change for
the better. The argument that justice is only justifiable if it offers justice through punishment as
an ideal measure of deterring individuals society against crimes. The criminal justice system
seeks to respond to offenders who have violated society’s rules in a manner that ensures these
individuals do not reoffend in future (Atkin-Plunk 239). Punishment is signified as a censure of
that offending conduct, allowing the criminal justice system to show society that it takes its own
rules seriously and that a breach of these rules ultimately has drastic consequences (Atkin-Plunk
240). In line with this, the criminal justice system utilizes punishment a form of informing
victims of crimes that it acknowledges they have been wronged and seeks to offer the required
justice against the offenders.

However, the ideal solution to helping offenders deter from reoffending in future is to
offer effective rehabilitative programs and supporting these individuals towards changing their
behaviors and adopting socially acceptable behaviors (Moss et al., 46). Programs such as
cognitive-behavioral programs try to get violent offenders to think and react differently to
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potential trigger situations. Rehabilitation builds on the overall character of offenders and
guarantees deterrence against recidivism, thereby promoting a reduction in crimes (Atkin-Plunk
241). In addition, as a guide to the sentencing decisions made by judges, rehabilitation as the
ultimate goal avails the most flexible and sensible direction of administering appropriate justice
within the criminal justice system. With rehabilitation as a guide, sentences can give judgment
based on the level of offences committed by an individual as a form of deterrence (Long 53).
Therefore, penitent offenders, offenders how have learnt from their mistakes (or self-
rehabilitated offenders) have the chance to receive lighter sentences that will help in building
their behavior and character within the society. On the other hand, offenders may also be given
tougher sentences to help them reform and adopt appropriate behaviors that are accepted in the
society.

Rehabilitation is not only significant when courts are deciding upon sentences. It is also
important when carrying out the actual sentence. The main focus is aimed at ensuring offenders
reform and adopt acceptable behaviors that will help them to deter against committing future
crimes (Moss et al., 48). The role of the criminal justice system does not end with pronouncing
sentences, for there is need to understand what will happen to offenders while serving their time
in prison. There is need to help these individuals to change and adopt desired behaviors through
learning meaningful skills training, with appropriate behavioral-treatment programs that help
them to understand how their actions impact other people within the society (Long 56).
Rehabilitating offenders while in prison offers them wider opportunities to build on their
character through the adoption of appropriate behaviors that will help them in absconding from
future criminal offences. Rehabilitation also plays an important role in determining the content of
punishment and the shape taken by this form of punishment (Weston 235). It is necessary for the
criminal justice system to ensure that offenders learn from their mistakes and do not go back to
their criminal ways. Through rehabilitation, offenders will be able to change their behaviors in a
socially-acceptable manner through reformation.
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Conclusion

Views on punishment and rehabilitation for criminal offences differ greatly. However,
everyone understands that we need to care for crime as it affects every member within the
society, whether directly or indirectly. The criminal justice system aims at reducing crime rates
through punishment and rehabilitation as essential measures. Arguments raised over a desired
process for ensuring offends do not reoffence in future seek to adopt measures that effectively
help in establishing a better society for all. The idea of punishment is not the est solution for
reducing the harmful impacts of crime. There needs to be effort to shift the focus of corrections
from incarceration to alternative programs that address the special needs of offenders. As to
whether rehabilitation effectively works, it seeks to reform individuals and also recognize that
there is always two sides of any story, and that offenders have a future as well.
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Works Cited

Atkin-Plunk, Cassandra A. "Should all violent offenders be treated equally? Perceptions of

punishment and rehabilitation for violent offenders with varying attributes." Victims &
Offenders 15.2 (2020): 218-242.

Long, Cassandra. "Putting an End to the Punishment and Rehabilitation Pendulum." (2018).

Moss, Simon A., et al. "When do people value rehabilitation and restorative justice over the
punishment of offenders?" Victims & Offenders 14.1 (2019): 32-51.

Weston, Brandon. "Balancing Rehabilitation and Punishment: Combing Juvenile Court Waiver
Mechanisms to Create a Balanced Justice System." Am. Crim. L. Rev. 53 (2016): 235.

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