Deterrence is one of the 5 forms of justice. Deterrence is
pretty self-explanatory, the idea behind it is to deter people from committing
crime, by unpleasant punishment. For instance, if someone commits and crime,
the punishment is so horrible that no one will ever want to experience that, so
they do not commit crimes. Another form of deterrence is increasing the
inevitability of conviction. The more number of officers patrolling the
highway, the more people will drive the speed limit. Theoretically, these two
aspects of deterrence should prevent crime.
However,
that is not always the case, this form of punishment would work in a perfect
world where everyone is capable of making sound and rational decisions. In the
world, we live in, people commit crimes due to various different reasons. Often
times they commit crime while under the influence of some sort of drug. During
this time people are unable to make adequate decisions. Most times the offender
could care less about whether they get caught or not, or if the punishment will
be bad. Financial struggles can also come into play, many times people feel the
need to steal, or sell drugs in order to get by. In deterrence, there are two
forms, one is the certainty of the punishment and the other is the severity of
the punishment (Valerie Wright, 4).
In
Valerie Wrights, Deterrence in Criminal
Justice, he states that the certainty of punishment is more effective than
how severe the punishment it, when it comes to recidivism. When people are more
aware of the likelihood of them getting punished, than they are less likely to
commit a crime. This does not apply to everyone but studies have shown it to be
more effective. Same studies show that the severity of the punishment does not
directly correlate to the chances of reoffending. This is because, eventually
they will get out and it is harder for them to readjust into everyday life.
After
serving a long sentence and being away from friends, family, and employment it
can be quite difficult to get resituated. The offenders who serve shorter sentences
or just different kind of punishments, have an easier time getting back in
there day to day routines. When only having left for a short period of time or
not even at all, make it so the offender does not reoffend due to their
reentrance into society. Not only is that a benefit, but with harsher punishment,
come more expenses.
Deterrence
has been the reason for certain laws such as, three strikes law. The three-strike
law was great in theory; it does not allow for offenders to continue to
recommit the same offense or similar ones. The three-strike law was established
for those who do not commit serious crimes, but they commit crimes nonetheless
therefore they are arrested after the third time. The problem with this was
that people would still commit crimes and find themselves in jail. Deterrence
is a huge reason for the overcrowding of jails. The more people are in jail,
the more that people need to pay in taxes to be able to finance jails.
Rather
than spending the money on incarceration, it would make more sense to spend it
on treatment for these people. Valerie state in his article that “spending on
drug treatment in community-based programs versus incarceration yields a higher
return on the investment while at the same time improving the life outcomes of
drug users.” (Valerie Wright, 10) It is only logical that this technique would
be considerably more effective than deterrence.
I
understand the deterrence goals; however, it ends up not being as effective as
planned. The Deterrence Justice relies too much on people’s rationality and knowledge
of the justice system. Many offenders do not even know about the three-strike
law, so how are they supposed to be expected to not reoffend? They also do not
know the consequences of their actions. A good option in making Deterrence
justice more effective is to come up with ways to inform communities of new
laws and policies. By that, I don’t mean city council meetings, rather sending newsletters
and such. That might not even be helpful, but it might be worth a try. I still
strongly fell that the best way to prevent and stop crime is by making
treatments readily available.
Sources:
http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Deterrence-in-Criminal-Justice.pdf
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