should jail be 'punishment' or 'rehabilitation' or 'other'. explain!?

Question

oxyman42-what do you sugest?

Answer 1

if rehab worked then so many people would not go back...so, punishment! but, they shouldn't make it so easy on them while in jail either. what do they care, they have 3 hots and a cot!

Answer 2

It's been proven over time that jail is not "rehabilitation", so we shouldn't pretend it to be. Jails are full today with criminals doing their second, third, fourth sentences, etc; which proves that the majority continue their criminal habits once released the first time?

It's time we get tough on criminals in this country and make jail what it should be..a punishment! And a full punishment at that! If the sentence is 50 years, 50 years is what the criminal should serve, preriod! And enough of laying around in the cells all day reading and listening to the radio. Put the criminals to work 12 hours a day working in factories, on roads, doing clean-up work, wherever they can be of use?

Answer 3

I think that it should be either or using the current methods. Trying to mix the two hasn't worked for many many years. If it's going to be punishment, then I don't think it should be civilized, but I believe it should be used justly and reserved for the most dangerous/evil of society. If it's going to be rehabilitation, then I think it should be used for minor offenses, but with true blue rehab facilities that don't take away basic priviledges, but administer them in a structured environment...offering a more restrictive placement for those who truly don't want help. For a long time people have been locked up for the color of their skin and justice is still not blind - gender blind, or color blind. I think this is one of the reasons why we've tried to combine the two. Send people to jail as a place of rehabilitation, but punish them (take away basic priviledges) while they're there. This hasn't worked and really has served to lock away what we believe to be our community lesser thans, turning them into criminals. There is currently more criminal activity in jail than anywhere else. Not only that, but our community people who are misfortunate often commit minor crimes to get "three hots and a cot" for a limited period of time. I guess my answer would have to change to - an "other", I just don't know what it would look like. LOL

Answer 4

Originally, the concept was supposed to be punishment, but as long as we have them sitting in our buildings doing nothing, we might as well try to rehabilitate them.

Personally, I think the whole 'jail' thing doesn't work anymore. It has become more of an extended stay hotel in some cases. I think it should be replaced with one of three punishments, or a combination, depending on the severity of the crime committed and the curcumstances:
1. Fines and restitution
2. Public flogging
3. Execution (publicly, in extreme cases)

Answer 5

great question!
In our time jail is more punishment than rehab
our future looks to be chemical
We will just dope our convicts
Most convictions make a person a second class citizen in this country
Even after parole, our ex-cons are on life's loser track
IMO jail needs to be punishment, society needs a deterrent
rehabilitation is an INSIDE job, the individual must want it and must work for it
punishment can be enforced, rehabilitation is a personal choice
and the refusal of rehabilitation is also a choice!!
that's why I think the future points to doping ex-cons

Answer 6

It should be a rehabilitation stage. It should also allow to reflect and it MUST NEVER be a place that generates more violence.

Physical and psychological punishment only induces to create resentment. The true purpose of jail should be to provide means for the people to evaluate what they've wrong and the damage they've inflicted, and it should allow them to find constructive solutions through education.

It also needs to provide tools so that people should have posibilities later on when they're reinserted into society.

Answer 7

Jail shouldn't exist because it is a bad tool to do either. Punishment and rehabilitation are such different concepts that i'm surprised that we have one building thats supposed to do both.

I personally believe that any form of punishment needs to be as immediate as possible so that there is a firm association in the criminals mind between the actual crime and punishment. Id He/She spends 3 years going back and forth to court then his/her mindset will eventually become that they are in jail coz they didn't get a descent lawyer or bacause of a technicality. This removes the crime from the criminals mindset and as such defeats the entire purpose of either punishment or rehabilitation.

Secondly in the case of serious crimes such as rape and murder i personally believe that taking away someones freedom with 212 back to back life sentences is insane and is much crueler than hanging them. no man has the right to take another mans freedom for the rest of his/her life i also diagree with capital punishment so i'm kinda lost...

Answer 8

If it was a violent crime (murder, assaults or wanton property damage or high financial crimes) then it should be hard time - not the "rights-based" prisons we have now (minimum or no privileges).

If it was a victimless crime (drugs, alcohol, or other civil infractions) then there should be a "time out" prison system that takes people out of circulation and re-rehabilitates with treatment protocols.

Drunk drivers - especially those that cause an physical injury, should simply be sent to a remote lockup to cool their jets for a long time.

Mixing the sentences for the different crime categories in to the same prison populations puts a real strain on resources because the lightest sentence is housed with the most hardened criminals and that just drives costs higher.

I could see drunks drivers in a dormitory in the middle of nowhere - free to breakout if they want to talk the risk and walk miles and miles. Very low cost and it sends a much better message than probation...

Answer 9

I think jail is seclusion... so as to keep the not so good guys from infecting the better ones or from causing harm on the latter. A bad tomato spoils the rest in a basket. Nobody really has the right to punish anybody for whatever wrongdoing he has done. "Let him who does not have sin cast the first stone". And as our fellow human beings are our responsibility, the possibility of rehabilitating them should be given a serious consideration.

If I am not mistaken, almost all the constitutions in the world say something to this effect: "All crimes will never go unpunished and will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law". But what happens to our moral obligation to our brethren?

Answer 10

Depends on the crime that put the prisoner there. If you murder some one it should be punishment. I mean in a cell 24/7, no TV, no weight room, no mingling, no visiting, no extra perks what so ever. Only the walls of the cell to look at. Let the potheads out of prison. Make the Crankers and other hard druggies be in a serious rehab that only allows 3 hots and a cot, and working on a chain gang! And all the drunk drivers, well I think they should be tied up in a little tiny room and only given the minimum to survive. And if they killed some one drinking and driving they should be sprayed with a fire hose about ever two hours!

Answer 11

I'm sceptical about rehabiliation- a jail seems the oddest place to try and improve people's morality!
I can't be bothered with punishment, since I think you're better forgiving people who wrong you.

In my view, the purpose of jails is to keep criminals locked up so they can't commit crimes, and as a deterent to others. As such I'm in favour of lengthy sentences.