Recidivism And Rehabilitation: The Problem Of The Criminal Justice System

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The criminal justice system is flawed. A single focus may not solve the problem. Now, one will make the argument for police brutality, racial injustice, recidivism, labeling, and so forth. The wider justice system has a more pressing issue, which is ideology. The idea of the criminal justice system, based on its premise, is that individuals need rehabilitation. The idea of rehabilitation is that one will take the punishment and come out of the justice system ready to be a contributing member of society. The issue here is that this is not the trend recognized in society. The justice system creates career criminals, where prison overcrowding, mental health issues and privatization are compelling issues that deserve exploration. Rehabilitation may be the premise of the criminal justice system, but the reality tells another story.
Recidivism
Recidivism has become a major issue in society. The only logical option to deter crime is to lock people up, putting them in prison. The longer the sentence, the safer society becomes, based on this logic. Of course, when the justice system is supposed to rehabilitate individuals rather than developing them into career criminals, this is a flawed system. Overcrowding is a major issue with the prison system. Privatization is a connected …show more content…

Once one cannot meet the demands of strain theory, one becomes labeled a criminal (under labeling theory) (Hough, Allen & Solomon, 2008). Now, the justice system has an easy route: put the criminals in prison, where they have already been labeled criminals. This is the easy task and one that continues because it makes sense from a fiscal perspective. Money is being made by the jails and the shareholders. People are in prison and away from society. The only losers here are those who are cast away from society and given the label of career criminals. No mention is given to the idea of rehabilitation being diminished in all capacities under this

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