Some people believe that giving longer prison sentences is the best way to reduce crime. Others believe that there are better ways to reduce crime. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Our society is made up of plethora of people and their problems. One big contender is the judicial system and how prison sentences are doled out. Even though time behind bars seems like the most appropriate way for punishing criminals, some of are view that there are better ways to reduce crime and I could not agree more.
There were times when our resources were limited. There were other much more important things to focus on rather than rehabilitating mere criminals. So rounding them up and boxing them away seemed like the best idea.
However, now we not only have enough time and resources but we actually have data showing the genesis of criminal behavior. Be it societal, monetary, psychological and so on. The root cause can be identified and therefore can be worked on to be eradicated specifically.
Moreover, the ideology of one size fits all does not work here. It is clearly evident from the fact that the prison systems have existed from a very long time and recent data shows that a chances for a repeated felony by a person who has had jail time is actually more.
But all of this does not negate the necessity of having longer prison sentences in the first place. There are many crimes which does require for a person to be removed from a society permanently. So it really is a question of our ever changing moral of what is deemed pardonable?
In the end, prison and how jail sentencing works is quite the grey area where there is no clear demarcation of black and white. It is quite a moral dilemma. But one thing is for sure if this system was indeed working we would not have any criminals by now.