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Punishment vs. Rehabilitation

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Punishment vs. Rehabilitation
Abstract
In this paper you will read about the steady debate between the punishment model and rehabilitation model. You will be able to understand each model’s side and derive your personal option of which model would work best for our country.

Punishment vs. Rehabilitation
Deciding methods of fixing bad behavior has been a discussion since the beginning of time. Parents have debated the subject to the point that professionals such as psychologist have been asked to be involved in the discussion. Many parents would often tell their children war stories of how their parents beat them with switches or belts. Today, however, this behavior is not acceptable and if social workers are called to a family’s residence and this behavior is discovered, the parents will probably lose their children and do jail time. There are two types of correctional methods that are often used, punishment and rehabilitation. Punishment is defined as a penalty that is imposed on an individual for doing something wrong. The term rehabilitation is defined as a way to help somebody to return to good health or a normal life by providing training or therapy. In this paper we will discuss the following topics, deterrence of crime, effect on victims and their families, effect on the offenders, social effect on society, and fiscal effect on society.
Deterrence of Crime
Many question if the punishment model really deter prisoners from wanting to go back to prison. Deterrence is supposed to prevent offenders from ever wanting to go back to jail. The punishment model only gives the prisoner two options, either they stay in jail for life or they get the death penalty, and because of this they have about 63% of inmates returning back to prison. When you compare this to rehabilitation model you find inmates truly learning and getting the skills they need to be outstanding citizens and stay out of the criminal systems. Unlike the punishment model it gives inmates something to work for and a chance



References: http://www.datelinecarolina.org/Global/story www.thebody.com http://deathpenaltyinfo.org

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