Comparing Punishment Theories
The four-day Attica prison uprising was known to be one of the bloodiest in American history. From September 9th to 13, 1971 inmates of Attica correctional facility took control of the prison and made several demands including a change on how prison guards should be treating the inmates. The event resulted to 39 deaths in a 15-minute assault after Nelson Rockefeller has ordered the State police to take over the situation (Kaba, 2011, p.5). This uprising is believed to be caused by the stories of abuse, torture and brutality among inmates by the prison guards. The effects of this incident became eminent in the concern society and the call for complete ratification of rules and rehabilitation programs in correctional sector is among the major issues at that time. After the event, rehabilitation has been renewed for the goals of incapacitation, deterrence and retribution. It had yielded several important change in terms of procedures in the correctional system, but these changes had pronounced effect including an unprecedented growth in the prison industry (Martinson, 1974, p.82).
The "get tough" policy had a profound effect in the following decades as incarceration rate have increased more than double from 13 to 300 out of 100,000 citizens (Martinson, 1974, p.83). There are several opinions regarding the effectiveness of punishment against rehabilitation policies. The result of change in correctional and criminal justice system led the discussion over leniency and its effect on the population. Although history tells the country an important lesson about how inefficient the prevailing correctional system is, the debates on imposing punishment over rehabilitation is still an issue that needs to be discussed. The story of Attica prison sparked the idea of changing policies, primarily to prevent history from repeating itself. First, rehabilitation in prison simply means changing the nature of the inmates to deviate from the old ways of crime. Punishment on the other hand as imposed in the older correctional system focuses more in imposing force over the inmates to make them realize that they shouldn't break the law.
Rehabilitation involves resolving psychological problems such as aggression and substance abuse to prepare the inmates for social reintegration (Benson, 2003, p.46). Primarily, prisoners were isolated in a much acceptable environment complete with provisions that make their life easier while in prison. However, this set up is most of the time are taken for granted by offenders with the current rehabilitation policies of parole, indeterminate sentencing, probation and expungement prisoners are no longer afraid of jail. Given the fact that new policies contribute to the increase of prison population in the country it appears that people are not very hesitant to be in jail at some point. Rehabilitation may be a more humane way of treating the inmates, but the true essence of prison is already gone from the current correction system. The very reason why people are sent to jail is because they committed crime against the law and the law is supposed to be a doctrine of punishment for those who defy it. Criminals are supposed to be deprived of their rights and not to be given the privileges fo a normal citizen. They committed crimes not only to their victims, but to the State in general. Therefore, prisons are not supposed to be made as their vacation facilities with free buffet lunch. Fact is, the correctional sector is taking up too much of the national budget and their expenses are being paid by tax payer's who they have committed crimes with.
When it comes to treatment, there are ways to minimize them while giving them the chance of repentance. Prison facilities and prisoners alike should be given a more pronounced meaning of punishment so get the people to be afraid again of prison. The reason that most criminals are not afraid to get into prison several times because they know the leniency behind it and that they are ways that they can get back to the society and do what they do best, to be a criminal. There is no guarantee that criminals will change their nature when they integrated back to the society. Most of law offenders are frequent offenders, those who are in probation and those who received parole are often the frequent offenders.
The treatment program in correctional system is proven not enough to prevent the people from committing crime. For example, a repeat offender persistently commit crime because of the "Three Strike Law," they are confident that they can get back to the society after their first and second offense and normally they commit even bigger crimes after another. Offenders do not stop until they reach the third offense which will render them unqualified for parole and would possible receive a life sentence (Wagner and Wood, N.D.). However, the bottom line here is, the society is seeing the same criminal over and over again, it could have been better if these offenders were given a single strike which they will regret for the rest of their life in prison. That the only way for them to get out of prison is to prove their commitment to change their way of life. Offenders should only be given one shot at the moment and receive the absolute punishment upon committing the crime and should never be given another couple of chances to do the same crime again.
This is the problem with the current rehabilitation program, the changes in the policies such as giving parole and light sentencing made life easier for most offenders, knowing that they have several chances of committing crimes. In the case study done by Robert Martinson (1974) regarding the change in rehabilitation policies after the Attica incident, different treatment approach such as counseling, milieu therapy and education as widely practiced in US correctional facilities are not proven effective in reducing recidivism (Martinson, 1974, p.83). Furthermore, it only adds up to the cost of operating the facilities in terms of paying professionals to conduct such therapies. It is not that criminals and prisoners alike should be treated harshly, but the point is that the full extent of the law has to be applied to them at the maximum and eliminate the possibilities that they would be coming back to the criminal life. The fact that prisoners were proven by the court guilty of their crimes must outweigh their claim for civil rights. Before prisoners were incarcerated, they have all the privileges of a free citizen and have they have all the rights to live in the state of freedom. However, they spoiled that chance by offending the law of the land. Therefore, they should be punished for their actions and that includes excluding them entirely of all the rights that they have taken for granted.
It is correct that brutally has no place in any prison and that jail personnel should avoid it, but it is an issue with jail management and manpower discipline and should not be the grounds for changing rehabilitation policies imposed on prisoners. The current justice system usually lock up offenders such as drug users. However, the assessment of the situation is not clear, the drug abuser may have been using illegal drugs, but he should be going to jail instead to be rehabilitated. It is because he did not do harm to others, but to himself and when time comes that he steals for his habit that is the time he should go to jail (Bromberg, 2008, p.1). This will minimize the mix of prisoners and allocate appropriate rehabilitation needs to specific kind of offense and eventually decrease correctional population.
Another common social issue today is domestic violence that is often the subject of interest to many women's rights advocates. The current rehabilitation policies allow domestic violence felonies to be on probation or parole. However, this policy only allows the incident to happen all over again. The number of repeat offenders of domestic violence that are not truly rehabilitated in prison and end up committing it repeatedly (Kendall, 2009). They just simply wait for their probation and return to their homes and commit the same violence putting the victims in a situation worse than before. It would have been better if this kind of offense is to be given a one strike punishment and put a permanent stop to domestic violence. Increased accountability is the key in effectively imposing punishment to prisoners instead of rehabilitation. Punishment could be a tough call and might cause negative implications to the prisoners, but that is what the law is all about in keeping the land safe and in order. The people should be made aware of the consequences of their actions and avoid prison as much as possible.
References
Benson, E. (2003). Rehabilitate or punish?. July/August 2003 Monitor on Psychology, 34(7), 46.
Bromberg, J. (2008, May 9). Rehabilitate or punish: How should society treat criminals? . Helium: Where Knowledge Rules. Retrieved June 29, 2012, from http://www.helium.com/items/1036791-rehabilitate-or-punish-how-should-society-treat-criminals
Kaba, M. (2011). Attica Prison Uprising 101: A short Primer. Project NIA, 5.
Kendall, J. P. (n.d.). Stearn County Felony Domestic Violence Court. Stearns Court Minnesota. Retrieved June 29, 2012, from http://www.co.stearns.mn.us/LawPublicSafety/AdultCriminalJustice/DomesticViolenceCourt
Martinson, R. (1974). Key Idea: Rehabilitation is Dead. Key Ideas in Criminology and Criminal Justice, 82-83.
Wagner & Wood, V. (n.d.). Repeat Offender, “Repeater” or “Recidivist”. VW&W. Retrieved June 29, 2012, from http://www.vanwagnerwood.com/cm/custom/repeat_offenders.asp
