The Gladstone Committee report was instrumental in giving a new look to prison punishment and justice. For a long time, prisoners were subjected to harsh conditions and were treated poorly. It was not clear what the ultimate purpose of prison was. A perception of prison being a form of punishment was deep-rooted in the society that few people understood that prison was supposed to rehabilitate the offenders. Among other things that the report was able to address was the conflict over the use of the words; treatment and rehabilitation.
According to the Gladstone report, rehabilitation is a form of penal reform. The committee constituted various factors that defined the course of rehabilitation. In this case, the committee stated that rehabilitation constituted less harsh treatment and was only to be considered to have been effective if the condition and behavior of a prisoner were improved. For example, in the report, it is further stated that prisoners of the age of 16 years and 21 years were not to be subjected to harsh treatment such as that of prisoners who were older (Gladstone). This ideal brought out the effect of equity. The prisoners were also to be educated and training on life skills in order to improve their conditions. Treatment, therefore, was part of rehabilitation. Treatment according to the committee was to be individualized (Bean, 2013). Treatment should be able to effectively meet the psychological and social needs of the offender. Irrespective of the offence, offenders were supposed to be given treatment that was in line with their respective needs. Treatment not only constituted punitive measures but also rehabilitative measures that were supposed to improve the social and psychological needs.
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In my view, I would choose rehabilitation to be used on offenders rather than treatment. I believe rehabilitation is fostered towards behavior improvement and can impact on prisoner positively. There are several factors that can trigger certain behaviors which cause actions leading to imprisonment. Rehabilitation based on an individualized framework will be able to determine these behaviors and necessary social or psychological measures taken to eradicate them. Rehabilitation also improves the welfare of the offenders effectively. As seen in the Gladstone committee report, young people should be educated and trained on skills in order to empower them economically once rehabilitated completely (Gunn & Maxwell, 2013). Through rehabilitation, prisoners will therefore not only be able to improve on their behaviors and reform but will also be able to gain life skills that are able to empower them economically and build a reformed life after prison (Gladstone Committee, 2015).
Rehabilitation is also able to impact on society positively. First of all, it introduces individuals full of life skills back into society. Through these skills, these people are able to develop the society. Reformed behaviors brought about by effective rehabilitation is also able to reduce ill behaviors that done in society. Improving the behaviors of ex-convicts in society can further trigger the reformed behavior of other people (Harding, 2014). It, therefore, builds a unified society marred by good individualized behaviors that are fostered towards limiting crime.
The Gladstone Committee defined several scopes on how prisoners are supposed to be treated and how the rehabilitation process should be done. They were also able to address two concepts behind criminal justice and prisons, these are rehabilitation and treatment. Rehabilitation is, however, is more appropriate in handling offenders and can impact on the society positively.
References
Bean, P. (2013). Rehabilitation and Deviance (Routledge Revivals) . Routledge.
Gladstone Committee. ( 2015). Report from the Departmental Committee on Prisons. Parliamentary Papers , 56 .
Gladstone, F. (2012). Charity, law and social justice . Brookfield Pub Co.
Gunn, J., & Maxwell, E. (2013). Psychiatric aspects of imprisonment (p. 231). London: Academic Press.
Harding, C. (2014). ‘The inevitable end of a discredited system’? The Origins of the Gladstone Committee Report on Prisons, 1895. The Historical Journal , 31 (3), 591-608.
