Amy's+Argument+Writing

Should the criminal justice system focus more on rehabilitation than retribution? The criminal justice system consists of many distinct stages including: arrest, prosecution, trial, sentencing and punishment (quite often in the form of imprisonment). It is in the last two of these many stages, that the debate over rehabilitation and retribution is of special significance.

Rehabilitation is seen by some people as a way of helping a person change for the better. It also is the most ideological justification for punishment. Rehabilitation is not only important when the court is deciding on the sentence. It is also important when it comes too actually carrying out the punishment. The role of the criminal justice system does not end with the pronouncement of a sentence- for what is to happen to the offender while he is serving his time in prison?

Does rehabilitation actually work? While some rehabilitative programmes work with some offenders (those who would probably change by them selves anyway), most do not. Many programmes cannot overcome, or even appreciably reduce the powerful tendency for offenders to continue in criminal behaviour. They simply do not work. ‘Rehabilitation’ is therefore a false promise- and the danger with such an illusory and impossible goal is that is used as a front to justify keeping offenders locked up for longer than they deserve and sometimes even indefinitely (‘if we keep him here longer maybe he might change’).

THIS IS NOT COMPLETE