Rehabilitation of Criminal (Essay Sample)

Offenders and the Society Name Institution Offenders and the Society In imprisonment, a great concern lies in the issue of how criminals should be treated in relation to their offence. Study shows that punishment or reward certainly affects an individual's personality, character, and way of living. Such is also the case of imprisonment. The nature of the penalty inflicted upon the offender determines what he/she will become as a person. It is never a sound judgement that prisoners should be totally excluded from society. Doing so will definitely worsen their attitude towards people and things around them. Now the issue at hand is the way of treatment upon them. Lately, rehabilitation of these offenders is already recommended in many prison houses. However, to lay up the foundation, it should be understood that offenses differ for each offender. Others are apprehended for serious crimes such as serial killing, rape, and murder, while others receive penalty for less offenses like theft in a convenience store. The former is expected to have more serious penalty than the latter, and this is the ideal set up. It is argued that rehabilitation could also lead to disproportionate sentences and judicial inequity (Robinson & Crow, 2009). The extent of punishment and rehabilitation of a particular offender should be collateral to the severity of the offense. Serious offenders such as serial killers, child abusers, and rapists should be penalized with lengthy jail terms. The nature of such crimes definitely indicates that the offender had gone too far from his moral conscience. On the other hand, persons with less serious offenses should be given greater means of rehabilitation. For instance, a person could be in jail simply for stealing a handful of goods in a convenience store. He/she could have done that simply because of financial difficulty – which is certainly common to all people. Indeed, offenders should be punished accordingly, regardless of the severity of the offense. Nevertheless, good justice also seeks reconciliation of the offenders and the rest of society. The rational purpose of prison is to prevent any further offense, while helping the offenders get back to the community (Gilligan, 2012). Any offender should be rehabilitated through useful ways. First, regardless of the severity of offense, they should continue in education. Education helps a lot in building up a person's being. Anyone who stops learning, even in the least way, corrupts his/her nature. Second, those who are of less serious offense ...