Monday, September 12, 2011

Commentary: Have we "evolved" beyond incarceration as a punishment?




Have we gotten to a point as a civilization where we have "evolved" past incarceration as an effective means of crime deterrence and punishment? During a course I'm taking on corrections, I posed this question to my classmates. I am beginning to be of the opinion that we are getting close to seeing incarceration as not being punitive nor rehabilitative enough for certain offenders. How can it be when our culture glamorizes abhorrent behavior and has created an outside "culture" where our norms and morals are seen as inconsequential? We tend to think of punishments in terms of these values. Most law-abiding citizens enjoy freedom. Criminals place little value on freedom or the rewards of a compliant and peaceful lifestyle. So why do we structure our punishment towards them with this value? As my favorite Vulcan says, "It's illogical."

I'm not opposing incarceration for certain violent offenders. However, I firmly believe "jail time" for crimes against property and certain misdemeanors has become extremely costly and offers very little restitution for its victims and the community. In other words, "the punishment doesn't fit the crime".

So what do I propose? The time has come for our society to reexamine our criminal justice system and assess whether our expectations are realistic enough. I would surmise we would conclude those expectations are too high given the diminishing resources dedicated to eliminating crime. With budgetary cuts in rehabilitation programs and correctional facilities, we have attempted to solve our "crime problem" with a minimalist attitude. In other words, "there is money in the treatment and not in the cure".

Our national conversation needs to move beyond the "lock 'em up and throw away the key" paradigm and into one where we contemplate alternative punishment/rehabilitative environments. What are your thoughts?

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