U.S. Correctional System U.S Correctional

U.S. CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

U.S correctional system

The society and the public have the expectation that the role of the criminal justice system in any place is to punish and rehabilitate the persons who commit an offence. In this view, punishment and rehabilitation are among the four of the objectives of the criminal justice system. The other two objectives of the system are incapacitation and deterrence (Stanko, Gillespie & Crews, 2004). Punishment and rehabilitation work to support and facilitate deterrence and incapacitation. In the United States, the primary goal of the criminal justice system, when attending to persons who commit the crime, is punishment. Severally, theorists continue to argue about which is more effective in dealing with criminals, punishment or rehabilitation.

How does our correctional system punish offenders?

Deterrence, as an objective of the criminal justice system, bases on punishment of the offenders. Therefore, in this view, the use of punishment instills fear on the offender in society, commonly expressed as teaching the society a lesson or showing the consequences of committing the crime. Therefore, the basis of crime is that it will deter the individual from committing the crime or repeating such acts (Edgely, 2010). Among the ways in which the system punishes the people is by incarceration. In incarceration, the criminal offender gets a sentence to stay locked in the jail system of the country. The length of the sentence is proportional to the immensity of the crime committed. In the sentencing, in United Sates, the maximum length of a sentence is a lifetime sentence. Sentence can be plain sentence or with hard labor, in which the offender does work while confined in the correctional system. However, there are debates on the subject of the death sentence.

Another way in which the system punishes people is by use of probation sentence. In a probation sentence, the offender has a warning to stay out of trouble and refrain from committing the offence. Therefore, in the probation sentence, the offender does not remain in the correctional facility (Edgely, 2010). Additionally, the justice system uses the administering of fines. A fine is a charge that the offender pays, equated to the weight of the offence committed. Additionally, there is the use of parole programs to punish the offender, applying acts such as shock incarceration. The shocks camps help punish the criminal offender in a less costly manner. The use community service is also another form of punishment for the offender used in the United States.

How does our correctional system rehabilitate offenders?

On the objective of rehabilitation, the justice system aims to correct the offenders, creating people who can exist in the community peacefully with others. This is a method proposed to work towards deterring crime in the society. Among the forms in which the system rehabilitates the people is with community service, with supervision on the individual (Edgely, 2010). In this exercise, the system teaches the offender to adapt in society by giving them skills that they can use in future. Another form of rehabilitation applied in the justice system is therapy. Therapy aims at deterring the criminals from committing crimes in the future. The therapy is where the offender undergoes a counseling and treatment system to help them recover from that mindset of committing the crime. Psychological counseling aims at creating a positive attitude in the criminal. Therefore, in rehabilitation, the justice and correctional system work towards the emancipation of individuals to stop committing criminal acts.

Which method is more effective in reducing crime, Punishment or rehabilitation?

The impact of punishment and rehabilitation in the society help to analyze which of the two methods of the correctional system is more effective. According to the Criminal Justice Statistics, a majority of the American society prefers swift punishment to rehabilitation (Blakely, 2008). In this survey, a resounding three quarters of people have the view that punishment is the primary justification of sentencing. Additionally, a 70% of people believe that, incapacitation is the surest way to prevent future crimes. Moreover, the same percentage of people believes that, the courts are too lenient on criminals. Therefore, the public opinion supports the use of prisons as the sure way of preventing crime. However, the family of the offender has the view that the correctional systems, through punishment do not give a fair sentence on the offender. Therefore, the victim's family supports the use of rehabilitation to prevent future crimes.