Retribution ought to be valued above rehabilitation in the United states criminal justice system

"When rehabilitation works, there is no question that it is the best and most productive use of the correctional system. It stands to reason: if we can take a bad guy and turn him into a good guy and then let him out, then that"s one fewer bad guy to harm us. . . " -John E. Douglas Resolved: Rehabilitation ought to be valued above retribution in the United States criminal justice system. Before we begin, I would like to provide some definitions, courtesy of Merriam-Webster: I: Rehabilitation: to restore to a former capacity or state of mind II: Ought: strongly advised III: Retribution: to give something in way of punishment IV: United States Criminal Justice System: the collection of laws, courts, and prisons that have the purpose of reducing harm to the society My value is Equality and my criterion is Ethical Relativism V: Equality: The condition of being treated the same as others in society; the states of achieving balance. VI: Ethical Relativism: A theory which holds that the rightness or wrongness of an act is relative to the attitudes and beliefs of the person judging the act. Contention 1: Retribution increases crime rate across the nation Sub-point A: Jenson and Howard outline two perspectives on the relationship between public policy and youth crime. From their analysis, youth crime rates fluctuate completely, independent of changes in public policy. The retribution system obviously has not worked out in the past. That"s why we need to consider reform in the system. We have a system in which two thirds of prisoners are re‐offending within two years. When you think that this is a prison system upon which we spend nearly $32,000 a year, it's a very poor return. Because our system is based on punishment rather than rehabilitation, we are simply creating a permanent conveyor belt of crime and offending, which in turn leads to prison overcrowding. People released from prison end up back there because they are not helped to integrate back into society. The best way to do that is for them to get a job, but our current legislation only allows for criminal records to be expunged after at least 10 years. It makes it impossible for former prisoners to get jobs because if they are given an interview they are forced to admit that they have a criminal record. No one will then employ them, and they are dragged back into a life of crime. Contention 2: Rehabilitation costs less than retribution Sub-point A: It is an often cited fact that this country spends $45,000 a year on each prisoner and yet 50% will go on to reoffend, which translates as a dead investment of $2 billion annually when retribution is used. Sub-point B: This means simply that prison isn"t working. To even begin addressing this problem we need to not only change our policy direction, but wholly transform the culture of how Government delivers rehabilitation services. This does not mean we need to lock offenders up and throw away the key, and this is where the Government should really make their mark on a new kind of justice policy. Contention 3: Rehabilitation is beneficial to the prisoner Sub-point A: Reaching out to first-time offenders with rehabilitation programs will make a difference. Instead of leaving them in cells all day, teach them. Make it a condition of their release and then the prisons can make a difference. Rehabilitation should not just be a goal, but the goal, of imprisonment. It makes little sense to believe that stripping human beings of respect and dignity and justifying that treatment by virtue of their "criminality" will produce people capable of contributing in a positive way to society once released. Contention 4: Rehabilitation has greater regard for the offender Sub-point A: Rehabilitation has another important value " it recognizes the reality of social inequity. To say that some offenders need help to be rehabilitated is to accept the idea that circumstances can constrain, if not compel, and lead to criminality; it admits that we can help unfortunate persons who have been overcome by their circumstance. It rejects the idea that individuals, regardless of their position in the social order, exercise equal freedom in deciding whether to commit a crime, and should be punished equally according to their offence, irrespective of their social backgrounds. Prisons are little more than schools of crime if there aren't any rehabilitation programs. Prisons isolate offenders from their families and friends so that when they are released their social networks tend to be made up largely of those whom they met in prison. As well as sharing ideas, prisoners may validate each others" criminal activity. Employers are less willing to employ those who have been to prison. Such circumstances may reduce the options available to past offenders and make future criminal behavior more likely. Rehabilitation becomes more difficult. In addition, rates of self-harm and abuse are alarmingly high within both men"s and women"s prisons. In 2006 alone, there were 11,503 attempts by women to self-harm in British prisons. This suggests that imprisoning offenders unnecessarily is harmful both for the offenders themselves and for society as a whole.