Is Saying Sorry Better Than Prison?
http://www.good.is/post/is-saying-sorry-better-than-prison/?gt1=48001One of the things we discussed in class was that one of the goals of incarceration is rehabilitation. According to the article a group of young people that are arrested in Northern Ireland are given the opportunity to say they are sorry to the people they affected the most with their crimes and they often have to work to offset any pay/damages.
38% under this program reoffended, however under a more harsh standard of incarceration reoffended 71% of the time. Not only are there benefits economically by not putting more tax dollars into the prison system, the offenders actually are acting better for society after their crimes.
One reason may be that the offender may become more self-aware to the crimes they have committed. They see how it affects the other people that are the victims. They are less likely to conform to a life of crime due to their new found self-awareness.
Now is this unfair to the victims? Not according most of the victims who actually support this more than just locking kids up. This allows kids to get over their crimes in a more efficient way and they will not have the social stigma of being incarcerated. This allows them to be able to work and be effective members in society.
I don't know if this idea alone is a cure-all but I definitely think that we need to try something different in terms of rehabilitation of offenders. Sounds like it's working pretty well for them huh? Great article.
ReplyDeleteNot it is not a cure-all and the article states that these are very minor crimes and misdemeanors. It mostly deals with crimes like simple assault, petty theft, minor drug use, etc...
ReplyDeleteWell that would definitely decrease the amount we spend every year on incarcerating people who commit petty crimes. Maybe it would even leave authorities with more time and attention to devote to "hard" criminals.
ReplyDeleteThat actually seems like a great idea for smaller crimes. I think it would make the punishment match the crime more. It makes more sense to have someone who vandalized a building clean it than having them spend time in prison.
ReplyDeleteIf someone damaged my property I would much rather have compensation than have the person responsible put in jail.
ReplyDeleteWith 38% reoffending compared to 71% that alone is something to look at.