Taylin Tyler

September 4th, 2019

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Philosophy of Punishment

If I were to pick which philosophy should run the criminal justice system, I would
definitely pick rehabilitation. I personally believe that rehabilitation should be the focus because
as citizen and people in the community we should want to help these criminals be reintegrated
back into society. Although there are many other philosophies, I strongly believe that
rehabilitation is the best one because it gives people a chance to restore their lives and fix the
mistakes that they previously made. People may think that criminals receiving rehabilitation is
more like a gift instead of punishment since they are getting a second chance at life. Even though
punishment is the center of the system, retribution is not always what works best. A criminal
cannot be a part of society if he is treated as just a criminal. This is why I think that rehabilitation
is the most effective philosophy as it teaches the criminals to be more than just a criminal.
According to The Law Dictionary the definition of retribution within criminal justice is at the
heart of just about all judicial systems that deal with law and order. According to Jon’a F. Meyer
“retributive justice response to criminal behavior that focuses on the punishment of lawbreakers
and the compensations of victims” (n.d). Retribution does not allow a criminal to forget the act
that they did. I can understand if it could be something that is clearly unforgivable or if they
criminal did something since they knew what they were doing. Retribution is basically like the
eye for an eye. If a criminal does something wrong, they should definitely have something
happen right back to them. I believe that rehabilitation philosophy is the best because in some
cases most criminals really realize what they did were wrong. I think that the rehabilitation
process should only be done and use for the criminals who actually want to try and get a second
chance at life. I would not say that some criminals do not deserve retribution because some
criminals know exactly what they are doing when they are doing it. I think that putting people in
jail for little misdemeanors or other little crimes, they are the ones who should qualify with the
process of rehabilitation. Yes, some crimes are deserving of a punishment, however; after they
spend a certain about of time in jail towards the end of the sentences they should start going to
classes to get back into the real world. According to Lobardo & Levy “Most rehabilitation
programs cost less than incarceration” (2005). People use rehabilitation more in juvenile
offenders rather than adult offenders. While using rehabilitation it does not really matter what
the crime was, you can use rehabilitation for drug addiction rehab, alcohol addiction rehab,
violent behavior rehab, or even gambling addiction rehab. According to the Strategic Research
Centre for Social “policies and programs focus on rehabilitating offers will have a greater chance
of success in preventing crime and improving community safety” (2019). If you start early and
stop the problem early enough, this will help prevent a lot of things down the lines. Yes I do
think punishments are useful in some crimes but I think giving people second chances are very
important as well.
Reference:

Meyer, J. F. (n.d.). Retributive justice. Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/topic/retributive-justice

Lombardo D. L. & Levy R. N. (2005). Alternatives to Prisons: Prison alternatives can cut costs
and improve public safety. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.

Strategic Research Centre for Social. (2019, August 29). Crime and punishment and
rehabilitation: a smarter approach. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/crime-and-
punishment-and-rehabilitation-a-smarter-approach-41960