Rehabilitation vs. Punishment When Criminal or Delinquents

Rehabilitation vs. Punishment

When criminal or delinquents have been duly sentenced in the court of law, they are locked up in various penitentiaries in the country. These incarceration centers vary from one to another in terms of security level, the size, population and further more differences but one similarity that they share is they are meant for releasing (if the sentence allows) back to the society a better person that the one who went into custody.

However, while in incarceration centers, there tend to be a clear cut difference between rehabilitation and punishment, there is therefore the risk of emphasizing one over the other which may not mould the best individual whom the society expects to walk out of the jail doors at the end of the sentence.

To have a clear picture of where the difference between rehabilitation and punishment ideology comes in, it is worth looking at what really defines each concept. Rehabilitation advocates for correction of the criminal by treatment. It is considered to date the most significance face of helping criminals get out of their criminal activities. Even with the onslaught of getting tough on crime call, it remains an integral part of the correction department and procedure (Net Industries, 2011). On the other hand, correction by punishment involved subjecting the criminal to unpleasant situations like hard labor as a means of correction.

The two bear some differences which are very significant in the bid to understand the difference between them as modes of correction. These differences are outlined vividly by Gadek, R., (2008) as follows;

Rehabilitation will give the individual the chance to think over the problem, comes to term with his wrongs and then learn on behavior change in a quest to avoid repeat of the same again in the future. On the other hand, punishment will only involve cooping up an individual in a cell without a proper guide on how to avoid repeat of the mistake again. This may not necessarily deter repeat of the crime.

One going through rehabilitation will have an easier time reentering the society and integrating back into the social system since it has not as much stigma as being locked up in the cells. On the contrary, punishment doesn't give the offender the chance and time to be helped in their bid to reenter the society, more often that not they are segregated and don't get to talk to the rehabilitation officers unless an alternative program is put in place as they are behind bars.

The other difference comes in the application of the two means of correction. Rehabilitation is widely used among the juvenile delinquents since they need guidance on decisions to make in the future and the harms that crime can cause one or the society. The punishment model passes more for use among the adult offenders who are deemed to have had the capacity of judgment, choice and decision making. However, among the adult population, the option of rehabilitation is very selective and particular and is not always offered to all locations.

Rehabilitation will also come in handy in terms of drug addiction rehabilitation, alcohol addiction rehabilitation, violent behavior rehabilitation and such like behaviors, while the punishment will take the form inflicting pain or subjecting the offender to harsh conditions for a mistake or crime he had committed though he may not be doing it in the present time.

The two should be used in tandem when correcting a criminal into a law abiding citizen. For instance when rehabilitation is over emphasized over the punishment aspect of correction, the offender may underplay the gravity of the crime he may have committed. The hard core criminals may also take it as the soft easy way of re-integration into the society while in the real sense they may not have thought through their criminal acts. The offenders may also not show emotions of being sorry for sake of appearing tough or may not volunteer much information so as to aid the rehabilitator help them out.

Again if the punishment is used alone, we may end up having a lot of ex-convicts with a vengeance attitude that they may mete on the society as a payback. This may emanate from the fact that they may not understand the reason for their punishment, how it helps them and how to avoid crime in the future. Punishment may as well make these offenders shun the society as they may feel that they are viewed as outcastes who are not worth getting back to the society at all. This may end up in an outburst of crime their psychological disposition will position them against the society in defense of their position as outcastes and in that bid commit more crimes.