In class we discussed proper punishments for different crimes. Personally, I'm against the death penalty. Each person feels differently about different things. Questions that popped up during this discussion were "Is there a such thing as a person who was incapable of rehabilitation?" "How can you feel when a person is rehabilitated?" "What do we do with the people that are incapable of rehabilitation?" The list goes on and on. The 10am discussion in my opinion was very intense.
So to address the first question "is there a such thing as a person incapable of rehabilitation," in my opinion I think that anyone can be rehabilitated as long as they are willing to accept help and do the work. You can't help someone who doesn't want it. There are those that believe that there is nothing wrong with them but that doesn't mean that attempting to help them would be a waste of resources. Now professionally I haven't done research but extensive hours of Law & Order, Criminal Minds, Blue Bloods, and many more shows, I've observed that most criminals have a colorful traumatic background or mentally they are just wired wrong. So to punish them at times for events that have affected their future which is out of their control is not just.
How can you tell when a person is rehabilitated ? Dr. Johnson brought up the analogy of a torn ACL. When one tears their ACL they go through extensive physical therapy, and counseling may also be a contributor. Initially the doctors or physical therapist will given a tentative time that the recover will be completed but that is just a broad timeline. So in the case of trials and judges the judge sets a sentence which is just a broad timeline. The individual can be rehabilitated before the set time and that's when a parole board is involved to see if they qualify for parole. This parole board is where the individual speaks on their on behalf and as well as others such as guards, family members, and maybe the warden. This is process is a way of seeing if a person is rehabilitated or not.
What do we do with the people that are labeled as incapable of rehabilitation? In class there were those that believe that if a person committed murder they should be punished by death. But there are different ways to look at this. If religion was involved in the Bible it states in the King James Version Deuteronomy 19:21 "And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life..." Now this can be interpreted differently from person to person but to mean that means if you kill someone which is also going against the 10 commandments then losing your life is just. BUT that does not mean a death sentence. The victim can not live out their life so a lifetime in prison is a way the criminal loses their life, by losing their freedom. Some feel that if one committed murder they don't believe that person should be reintroduced into society but one sin is no different than the other they are all the same in God's eye. So what's the difference between a murderer, pedophile, rapist, thief, drug dealer, serial speeder, or even an extortionist. There is no difference. They are all criminals who have to be held accountable for the things they've done but it's not anyone else's job to place judgement on them because you never know the story behind it.
1 comment:
I agree with you, i believe there should be different types of punishment depending on their status. In regards to history of a mental illness or no history. Lastly, i did not think about your point but i do agree that there is a slight possibility that there might be someone whose life was really extreme and it will take a little more than just rehabilitation.
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