Reeducation and
rehabilitation are more effective than lengthy jail terms
By
Fung Lan Yong
Jesselton College Sabah (September 2015)
fungyong58@gmail.com
For
centuries, jail terms have been employed in the criminal justice system whereby
the convicted will be restricted from any freedom or access to almost everything,
while performing mostly blue-collared work for their basic necessities. In recent years, there has been a drastic
increase in crime rates with myriad penitentiaries being built around the
world. However, the mushrooming of
penitentiaries does not necessarily help reduce crimes in most societies. As such, the effectiveness of jail terms in
reducing crime rates is highly debatable. Although lengthy jail terms commonly serve as
a form of punishment to the convicted, it is less effective than reeducation
and rehabilitation because they burden the government financially, affect the
convicted mentally, and provide limited training to the convicted
Lengthy
jail terms are less effective than reeducation and rehabilitation centers
because they involve the upkeep of convicts that often increases government
expenditure. Due to the increase of
inmates, more and more new penitentiaries are needed. Moreover, maintaining them can be relatively more
expensive than rehabilitation centers. Security guards and technical devices are
required to keep penitentiaries safe and secure. Besides, medical and health care are provided
to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Undoubtedly, valuable funding and resources
are also allocated for the safekeeping of inmates, including food, wages, and
various facilities. Imprisonment
therefore entails an enormous budget for the government. The Pew Centre reported that more than $49 billion
was spent on probations in 2010 in the USA compared to $11 billion twenty years
ago (Elder, 2011). Furthermore, incarceration is not effective
in meeting many specific objectives, signifying that the gains are low. If the
government just sends every convict to jail, it will be exceedingly costly;
when they get out, they will repeat the same crimes. Indeed, many inmates have
committed crimes while serving a jail term due to overcrowding. Research shows that community service schemes in
the early nineties costed only about one third of that of keeping a person in a
penitentiary. Thus,
reeducation and rehabilitation using community service programs are preferred
to jail terms since they are more practical and cost-effective.
Besides
incurring high government expenditure, lengthy jail terms have an adverse
impact on the behavior of the inmates. Initially, jail terms were intended to impose
punishment and rectify the inmates of their mistakes. Nevertheless, failure to do so has caused prisons
to breed more dangerous criminals.
Inmates may become even more violent after being detained for a long period (Cook, 2000). Besides
that, they are deeply isolated from society, causing their social skills to
diminish gradually. Since inmates tend
to have more criminal contact in jail, many will be influenced by negative
behavior of others. On top of that, thy
lack positive role models to emulate socially and culturally acceptable
behavior. Whenever fighting or any
serious crimes occur in the penitentiary area, inmates are commonly punished
and even abused by wardens or administrators. Eventually, many of these inmates may deteriorate,
using extreme violence as the only solution for all kinds of problems. Additionally, the customs and perspectives in
a penitentiary are drastically different from the outside world; it is a place
characterized by tension day and night (Fairshake,
2010). A long period of incarceration
often alters inmates’ perceptions towards life. After being released, they will experience great
difficulties in assimilating themselves in the community, leading them to
return to crime to eke a living. Instead
of modifying inmates’ behavior, incarceration perpetuates criminal behavior. Therefore, there is a critical need for reeducation
and rehabilitation using community service programs rather than making the
inmates worse by placing them in a destructive environment. Programs specially implemented to inculcate
socially responsible behavior are effective in helping inmates to readjust to
society and get jobs. After all, such programs
strive to encourage inmates to face challenges in a constructive manner rather than
resorting to violence.
Rehabilitation
and reeducation centers are a much better option compared to jail terms because
they strive to provide effective training to help inmates develop socially and
culturally appropriate behaviors needed to lead an independent and productive
life. Research shows that many inmates
come from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds characterized
unemployment, family disintegration, and poverty (Peters
& Bekman, 2011). Community service programs are highly effective in
changing the behavior and mindset of inmates, allowing them to successfully assimilate
into society later. Furthermore, about
seventy-five percent of inmates were involved in drug abuse (Koppel & Fields, 2011). For them, substance-abuse recovery
programs, vocational skills training, social care, general education via
rehabilitation are much more appropriate than a jail term. Besides that, re-education enhances their
basic living skills by fostering their artistic interests and hobbies. Inmates
can also contribute to public services, which encourage them to make a change
on their behavior and attitudes simultaneously.
Rehabilitation and reeducation centers reinforce positive qualities that
are vital for inmates to reintegrate into the society, allowing them to develop
a new outlook to their lives as well. In
brief, re-education and rehabilitation centers provide a positive environment
for inmates, encouraging them to acquire practical skills and knowledge for a
better future. They are crucial to
reducing crime rates by acting as an incentive for inmates not only to give up
on crimes, but also to look forward to becoming productive members of society
eventually.
On
the other hand, opponents believe that lengthy jail terms are useful to deter
people from committing crimes as well as to ensure the public safety. They contend that dangerous people, such as
murderers, arsonists, or rapists should be kept away from society in order to
prevent further crimes as well as to mete out justice. However, the undesirable
consequences of lengthy jail terms cannot be underestimated. As a result of serving out a long jail term,
many inmates will have a hard time looking for jobs upon release, experiencing
endless rejection and condemnation by others. Criminals are human beings too; incarceration
may lead them to lose their humanity instead of modifying their behavior (Johnson, 2011). About ninety percent of all inmates are
eventually released in the United States, but the fundamental skills that they have
acquired in the penitentiary are not sufficient to help them face the real
world. Somehow more than half of them would
be back in prison within three years. Further, sixty-seven and a half percent of
them have been arrested for a new crime, unrelated to their prior conviction (U.S Department of Justice,
1996). This shows that
incarceration does not actually help to rehabilitate inmates; instead it
further criminalizes them, leading them to be more aggressive and causing the crime
rates to rise dramatically. On the whole, convicted
criminals deserve education and community service programs despite their
personal circumstances. This discourages
them from seeking revenge or engaging in other kinds of criminal behavior that would
land tem in jail again. Hence, rehabilitation
and reeducation serve as better alternatives in addressing the issue of safety
in society.
In
conclusion, inmates should be reeducated and rehabilitated using community
service programs instead of being punished with lengthy jail terms. Generally, reeducation and rehabilitation are
more viable as they are more affordable, prevent criminals from becoming more
violent, and enable inmates to acquire beneficial skills and knowledge. Hence, it is believe crucial for the
government to implement more community programs in order to help inmates
readjust to society. Such ventures are effective
in reducing crimes as well as maintaining peace in the community. A penal policy that puts more emphasis on
reducing reoffending and reforming criminals and turning them away from a life
of crime will mean fewer crimes, fewer victims, and safer communities (BBC, 2010).
References
BBC.
(2010). Prison sentencing reforms to break crime
cycle. BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics.
Cook,
J. R. (2000). Asphalt justice: a critique of the criminal justice system in America.
Greenwood Press, Ebrary, USA.
Elder,
G. L. (2011). Lawmakers work on reducing inmate population. Total Criminal Defense. http://www.totalcriminaldefense.com/news/articles/unusual/1-in-99-prison.aspx.
Fairshake.
(2010). Culture shock! http://www.fairshake.net/culture_shock.html .
Johnson,
M. (2011). Long prison
sentences fail not just offenders, but society too. The Guardian. http://guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/18/long-prison-sentences-fail-offenders-society.
Koppel,
N., & Fields, G. (2011). States
rethink drug laws. Daw Jones Company.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704728004576176514208186374.html.
Peters,
R. H. & Bekman, N, M. (2007). Public health behind bars: from prisons to
communities. Springer Science &
Business Media.
Note: The reference list must be on a separate page
and in alphabetical order.
