Crime and Punishment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Crime and Punishment - Assignment Example As a result, countries like America reflect increasing number of prisoners as recorded over the years. However psychologists are still continuing their researches on the causes of crimes and trying to decipher why individuals are entering the criminal justice system (Benson 2003). The basic roles of a prison system include: social isolation and confinement, repentance, punishment and deterrence, protection and reformation. A prison system leads to an isolation of the prisoner from the society such that the man’s violations of the legal system do not affect the lives of the common people. It is expected that he would repent on his wrong deeds if kept isolated. Also, with some pain and suffering, it would create some fears among the criminals. It is also the role of the prison system to protect the society from criminals which can be achieved through captivating the criminals. Reformation is the role that is focused on changing the attitude and mental condition of the individual s such that they do not repeat crimes (Bura 2012). Rehabilitation proves to be an essential role of the prison system since it is the prime motive of the justice system to rehabilitate the individuals who have committed crime. If rehabilitation is not focused, then bad people would only turn into worse. Instead, rehabilitation functions to restore the lives of the criminals by changing their mental condition, health conditions and their attitudes trying to prevent them from committing crimes again. Only then these individuals would be able to live normal lives once they are back into the society (Tanner 2012). Effectiveness of Prisons for Rehabilitation: The Present Day Situation: With the rates of punishment being increased and less focus being given on the resettlement needs of the criminals, the rehabilitation of the offenders in the prison system has become less likely to achieve in the present times. It is observed that most of the prisoners who are released are re-offending an d are taken back to prisons. This reflects the fact that the present day prison system is not proving to be effective in rehabilitating the prisoners and instead turning the mental state into worse through punishment measures (Cavadino 2006). Conclusion: Thus from the above study, it can be realized that although it is the role of the prison to make the criminals realize of their wrongdoings and rehabilitate them such that they can lead normal lives without affecting the society, yet in the present times the prison systems have proved not to be effective enough for rehabilitation of individuals, with their focus being more eon punishing the criminals and not correcting them as is needed. Task 2: Prison Does Not Work: Introduction: Prison punishments have been expected to prevent crimes and correct the mental attitudes of the criminals. Yet in the present times it is observed that prison overcrowding has become one of the major causes of concerns, particularly in countries like the A merica. Similar situation is observed in other countries as well presenting a doubt on whether the modern day prison system works or not (Big Question: Does the modern prison system work? 2013). Prison: The Dominant Form of Punishment: The use of prisons for punishing criminals had been into existence since over 200 years ago. Before