The purpose of the criminal justice system is to reform criminals by altering their behaviors by “curing” their criminal tendencies. Rehabilitationinvolves the use of counseling, treatment center placement, educational and vocational programs to transform a criminal’s mindset. The Knowledge received in vocational programs gives criminals a sense of purpose and reduces the urge to commit a crime again. Successful rehabilitation will ensure that criminals become productive when they re-enter society. Rehabilitation brings a win-win situation to both society and criminal offenders. The community is therefore protected from future harm while criminals acquire essential skills that they can use to improve their lives. The use of deterrence and retribution as a form of punishment to instill fear and pain in criminals only serves the purpose of hardening criminal offenders. Retribution and deterrence primarily aim at avenging crime victims and their loved ones while turning a blind eye on the reformation of criminal offenders.
Severe punishment such as lengthy incarceration and wretched prison conditions encourage criminals to view and think of themselves as less human and opposed to the society that is punishing them. Criminals that have served their sentences or those that have been pardoned strive to impose some form of revenge on the community that subjected them to different kinds of maltreatment. The society, therefore, ends up millions of dollars in taxes in delaying the criminal intentions of criminals rather than permanently preventing it. Rehabilitation is thus the best form of criminal justice because it gives released criminals the opportunity to engage in something productive thus preventing them from returning to their old criminal lifestyles.
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