Justifications for Punishment

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the reasons usually cited to justify legal forms of punishment and then sets forth the argument that, of all the justifications, rehabilitation is the one most likely to prevent future crime, while retribution is the least likely. The paper provides statistics and examples to support this position.

From the Paper:

"Given the number of nonviolent offenders and substance abusers in prison, rehabilitation rather than prison can be a more effective and less costly solution in many cases. States such as Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Kansas, California, Idaho, New Hampshire, Oregon and Texas are using drug treatment programs and other forms of community-based supervision as an alternative to incarceration for many of their nonviolent, first-time offenders and are making changes to their parole and probation systems to make them a more effective alternative than prison (Kinsella and Fuller, 2003). It costs more than $60 a day to house an inmate in a state prison. In contrast, community-based supervision programs cost less than $10 a day for an offender under regular supervision."

More papers on Justifications for Punishment:

• Analytical Essay # 9072 : "Billy Budd": A Critique of Capital Punishment"
• Argumentative Essay # 2877 : "Capital Punishment: Injustice To Society?"
• Term Paper # 111949 : "Capital Punishment"

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