Retribution In Prisons

281 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Injustice legal system

On the other hand, majority of society favors the process of punishment in order to dissuade offenders from recidivism. This process proves more consistent in the matter that offenders become fearful. However, it is not a good idea to punish someone or make him and her fearful in order to persuade him or her from committing crime. Prisons use punishment because society has deemed this an easier process than to help the prisoners recover from negative behavior. Prisoners endure punishment in order to prevent crimes because officials know that this process works, especially when used in routine. Punishment in prisons is a tactic used in order to convince prisoners that he or she are of lesser value than others are and deserve punishment. In all reality, there is no way to justify continued punishment of a prisoner (Henry). …show more content…

The hope is to change prisoner’s habits into positive ones that are not full of violence. Prisons should strive to make prisoners civil and become productive. Retribution is not beneficial to the prisoner because it often occurs in a negative manner; thus, the offender has an unpleasant experience with behavioral change. The effects of retribution are fair in the extent that there is restorative justice; however, a war rages on in the prisoner’s mind. A positive experience in prison and rehabilitation can drastically reduce recidivism rates (Bayley). Retribution is the process of punishing criminals to deter the offender from crime relapse. Retribution is similar to vengeance, but it is different from

Show More
Related

  • America’s Prisons and Their Effects On Society

    1532 Words  | 4 Pages

    Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.

    Read More

  • The Rise of America’s Prison Empire

    1930 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout his novel, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, author and professor Robert Perkinson outlines the three current dominant purposes of prison. The first, punishment, is the act of disciplining offenders in an effort to prevent them from recommitting a particular crime. Harsh punishment encourages prisoners to behave because many will not want to face the consequences of further incarceration. While the purpose of punishment is often denounced, many do agree that prison should continue to be used as a means of protecting law-abiding citizens from violent offenders. The isolation of inmates, prison’s second purpose, exists to protect the public. Rehabilitation is currently the third purpose of prison. Rehabilitation is considered successful when a prisoner does n...

    Read More

  • Rehabilitation Case Study

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although it has varied in its forms, punishment is largely influenced by the theories and socially constructed views of criminal activity. It is important to acknowledge how the forms of punishment have progressed from public humiliation and executions to solitary confinement and into today, with forced labor and firmly established routines. Even how the structures have changed with the number of those incarcerated. From initially only being two-story houses to being massive communities hidden behind penitentiary walls, it becomes important to question what their true purpose really is. Although it can be argued that prisons are still a form of rehabilitation for offenders, when you examine what it is that the inmates are actually doing, they are benefitting the economy more than they are benefitting themselves. Making budget cuts towards education and counseling services, which are necessary to reform offenders, is only going to continue to increase rates of incarceration. Instead, that money is currently being invested in ways to further expand the prison enterprise and displace those who are marginalized. Racism and economic greed has been embedded into prison functioning. In order to reduce recidivism rates there needs to be more of a focus on decreasing crime and the rates of incarceration by focusing more heavily on resources and

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Solitary Prisonation In Prisons

    1427 Words  | 3 Pages

    More than half of prisoners reoffend within at least three years of leaving prison. Those who reoffend tend to have more severe and more aggressive offenses than previously. A man by the name of Brandy Lee has shown that by having a very strict program in prisons, violent offenders in San Francisco jails reduced the amount of violence in jails. The program also helped to reduce the rate of violent re-offences after leaving the jail by over 50 percent.

    Read More

  • Stripped of Humanity: Are Prison Systems Helpful or Rather Harmful?

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    For centuries, prisons have been attempting to reinforce good behavior through various methods of punishment, some more severe than others. There are several types of punishments which include “corporal punishment, public humiliation, penal bondage, and banishment for more severe offenses, as well as capital punishment”(Linklater, V). Punishments in which are more severe pose the question “Has it gone too far?” and is stripping away the rights and humanity of a criminal justified with the response it is for the protection of the people? Is justice really served? Although prison systems are intense and the experience is one of a kind for sure, it does little to help them as statistics show “two-in-five inmates nationwide return to jail within three years of release”(Ascharya, K).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of 'The Prisoner's Dilemma'

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Western cultures imprisonment is the universal method of punishing criminals (Chapman 571). According to criminologists locking up criminals may not even be an effective form of punishment. First, the prison sentences do not serve as an example to deter future criminals, which is indicated, in the increased rates of criminal behavior over the years. Secondly, prisons may protect the average citizen from crimes but the violence is then diverted to prison workers and other inmates. Finally, inmates are locked together which impedes their rehabilitation and exposes them too more criminal

    Read More

  • Canada Should Focus More on Rehabilitation and Less on Retribution

    3232 Words  | 7 Pages

    Society has long since operated on a system of reward and punishment. That is, when good deeds are done or a person behaves in a desired way they SP are rewarded, or conversely punished when behaviour does not meet the societal norms. Those who defy these norms and commit crime are often punished by organized governmental justice systems through the use of penitentiaries, where prisoners carry out their sentences. The main goals of sentencing include deterrence, safety of the public, retribution, rehabilitation, punishment and respect for the law (Government of Canada, 2013). However, the type of justice system in place within a state or country greatly influences the aims and mandates of prisons and in turn targets different aspects of sentencing goals. Justice systems commonly focus on either rehabilitative or retributive measures.

    Read More

  • Retribution In Canada

    502 Words  | 2 Pages

    Retribution is the philosophy best explained by the famous saying, “an eye for an eye”. Those that believe in this form of justice hold a strict and harsh view on punishments for crime. The proponents of retribution believe that severe penalties act as deterrence to future crime, however, studies

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Bring Back Flogging By Jeff Jacoby

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    He claims that prisons are a place that criminals can sharpen their skills and learn from each other so that they can perform even more heinous acts. Not only are inmates becoming better criminals but they also see their crimes as “status symbols” (197) the more despicable the crime the more respect from other inmates. The author writes that if the punishment for even small crimes were as severe a flogging then the measure of status would, over time, disappear. The article “Bring Back Flogging” by Jeff Jacoby writes about an unpopular topic through rational

    Read More

  • The Effect of Prison on Inmates

    1768 Words  | 4 Pages

    Punishing criminals by putting them in a correctional facility such as prisons can be successful in repenting the criminal as they would reflect on their own actions, allowing the guilt to make them better people, probably even seeing their own faults through other prisoners. Prisons give criminals a chance to rehabilitate themselves by using the facilities there present such as the counseling and seminars given. The fact that prisons house a lot of criminals that associate with each other has created a “criminal community”, an atmosphere where crime inhibits; therefore criminals can only aid each other out to become better “crims”, learning the tricks of the trade as well as toughening each other up through the highly abusive nature of the criminals there. Health wise, prisons can highly be dangerous and lethal to the prisoners; such diseases as AIDS from homosexual relationships and drug use is prevalent, as well as male rape, and even female rape, even some become mentally insane. In general however, prisons aren’t a nice place to be.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Retribution

    537 Words  | 2 Pages

    Retribution – is a correctional aim which is to hold a person who has committed a crime accountable for committing a crime against another or society in the form of punishment. (Stojkovic and Lovell 2013) What we look at in retribution is when someone is punished there is legitimacy in the punishment of a particular crime that was committed. Some of the pros of retribution are retribution can make a person or society feel safer or a feeling of justice being served when a person is punished for the crime they committed. The con of retribution is during court proceedings the prosecution and the offender’s lawyer may come to a plea agreement which could give the offender a lesser sentence than what he or she would have gotten originally. (Stojkovic and Lovell 2013)

    Read More

  • The Effectiveness of U.S. and Scandinavian Penal and Prisons Systems

    3052 Words  | 7 Pages

    The United States prison system is devoted to justice by hammering out retribution to those who violate the rules of the law. Though this is indeed the just and correct thing to do, crime should be and is followed by punishment, but what then? After serving their time, inmates are returned to the streets knowing only the torment of life. It seems the Scandinavian prison system has tried to change that, and has succeeded with the rehabilitation of inmates by putting rehabilitation over retribution, in order to directly address recidivism. By supporting the philosophy of ‘gentle justice’, the United States may not be able to remove crime entirely but it can definitely cut down on recidivism, and inmates who return to a life of crime. This investigation of the facets of prison life in the United States and Scandinavia is to show how the United States can give social stability by cutting down on crime rates, save money in the long run, and morally and ethically make a difference in the lives of troubled men and...

    Read More

  • Imprisonment is Ineffective as Punishment

    1773 Words  | 4 Pages

    Coyle (2005). The 'Standard'. To say whether using prison as a form of punishment has aid in the quest of tackling the crime problem, one must first consider the purposes of the prison.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Reform Vs. Punishment

    1601 Words  | 4 Pages

    For many years, there have been a huge debate on the ideal of reform versus punishment. Many of these debates consist of the treatment and conditioning of individuals serving time in prison. Should prison facilities be a place solely to derogate freewill and punish prisoners as a design ideology of deterrence? Should prison facilities be design for rehabilitation and conditioning, aim to educate prisoners to integrate back into society.

    Read More

  • Does The Punishment Fit The Crime?

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    Punishing the unlawful, undesirable and deviant members of society is an aspect of criminal justice that has experienced a variety of transformations throughout history. Although the concept of retribution has remained a constant (the idea that the law breaker must somehow pay his/her debt to society), the methods used to enforce and achieve that retribution has changed a great deal. The growth and development of society, along with an underlying, perpetual fear of crime, are heavily linked to the use of vastly different forms of punishment that have ranged from public executions, forced labor, penal welfare and popular punitivism over the course of only a few hundred years. Crime constructs us as a society whilst society, simultaneously determines what is criminal. Since society is always changing, how we see crime and criminal behavior is changing, thus the way in which we punish those criminal behaviors changes.

    Read More

More about Retribution In Prisons

Open Document