Does Punishment Serve Justice? Research Paper on Examining Morality & Right to Punish

Any discussion regarding the prison system develops into the idea of punishment. Punishment is an authorized response to criminal wrongdoing. Punishment, legal or nonlegal always involves deprivation or harm to the individual. The legal institutions always inflict harm and pain intentionally to criminal offenders, which may not be necessary. Therefore, the primary question is, Does societies have the right to punish and is it morally justifiable? Other questions that give rise to punishment include, does offenders deserve the punishment? Will punishment stop criminal behavior? Does punishment disapprove of the offender's actions? Does punishment protect society from criminals? Does the punishment ensure the criminal make amends for the harm caused? (Bulow, 2014). Punishment needs to be a public policy that must be appropriately and inevitably enforced. However, the nature of the crime should determine the rationale and justification of the punishment. Yet, moral justification for punishment should be established to justify the judicial system's infliction of punishment. Criminologists, social theorists, and moral philosophers have theorized various approaches for punishment within the society and criminal justice system. The philosophical argument about punishment can be understood using two theories: the utilitarian theory (Bulow, 2014). The theories help to understand punishment based on restorative justice, rehabilitation, incapacitation, retribution, and deterrence. Utilitarian theory by Bentham argues that punishment should be proportional to the crime and it should not be excessive. Bentham sees punishment as evil because of its subjective effect on criminals Therefore, this paper argues why the abolition of the prison system is not a desirable goal using utilitarianism as the ethical grounding position.

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The criminal justice system combines the local public, state and federal agencies that work together to address crime and ensure the safety of American citizens. The justice system is mainly composed of three components, including law enforcement, courts and corrections, which are tightly intertwined and dependant on each other. Correctional system, being the final component, majorly emphasizes upholding and administering sentences to the criminals as handed down by judges. Through correctional, probation and parole officers, all stipulations regarding the offender's punishment are followed accordingly to ensure proper administration of justice in the society (Lynch, 2014). The prison environment is very complicated and contributes to the informal avenues of earning money as well as acquiring prohibited items like hard drugs.This type of economy is referred toas the informal economy. It is also known as underground or illicit prison economy. Generally, the correctional system serves four purposes, including rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution. The system achieves its purpose by either depriving criminals of their freedom and removing them from the society to ensure that innocent people are not harmed or administering harsh punishment like death penalty to deter more crimes from taking place. It also applies for rehabilitation services, like counseling, designed to transform offenders into law-abiding citizens. However, the effectiveness of these methods is still a controversial subject; the issues of costs to maintain a high number of prisoners and the impact of increased incarceration in reduced crime are some of the controversies surrounding correctional facilities (Voorhis & Salisbury, 2016). Being a component of the criminal justice system, the main concern is its purpose in ensuring justice and its contribution to combating crime.

For example, there is no doubt that this judicial caning ordered as part of the criminal sentencing imposed by a Malaysian civil court on male individuals who commit serious crimes is to be the most extreme form of caning. In all serious criminal cases, a country like Malaysia always provides corporal punishment together with imprisonment for the adult criminals. In the example cases in the first e -Activity, sentencing incorporates corporal punishment and imprisonment. Even though imprisonment in conjunction with corporal punishment appears to be inhumane, it is appropriate for some of the individuals considering that they committed a serious crime (Corpun.com). Kuching deserved the eight years jail term and ten strokes because in case the drugs could have reached other people, the effects could be devastating. The sentence given to Kuala Lumpur is too harsh given that he did not physically hurt anybody. The jail term could be enough. Similarly, Asha Alam did deserve a jail term but not strokes because he was fined twice, an equivalent amount of money for breach of trust.

For example, the individuals who kidnapped the woman who is a mother of seven children and rapped her deserved the kind of punishment and imprisonment to serve as a lesson to any potential criminal who may think of committing a similar act. This form of punishment would be a humiliation to the criminals as they did to their victim who was humiliated to the extent of causing intimacy problems with her husband and the pain she went through while being rapped. Even though corporal punishment in conjunction with imprisonment is harsh, the result is to make the victim feel that justice is served by not just taking the offender to jail, but also making them feel the pain their victims felt.

Lynch, (2014) views Correctional practice as a science which is more focused on the continuous dynamic between rehabilitation and punishment. The value of the correctional system is to ensure justice is attained by administering equal enforcement of the law, punishing offenders through calling them into account for crimes committed and ensuring that the state does not punish innocent people. And, since society believes that criminals must be punished for their wrongs, they should first lose freedom, learn socially acceptable behaviors and get positive role models. This would not only serve as a punishment, but it would also be a means of reducing the cycle of recidivism (Skeem, Manchak, & Peterson, 2011). Correctional facilities aim at reducing crime by incapacitation, punishing and rehabilitating offenders thus deterring other crimes from taking place. But making these process effective and efficient also relies on the power of the state in following the due process to control crime which involves criminal detection, prosecution and conviction this model of due process emphasis on the protection a citizen's rights even during convection. But, just like any other system, this component of criminal justice also has its share of controversies.

Some of the issues facing correctional practices include insufficient funds due to overcrowding, litigation, and mental health (Voorhis & Salisbury, 2016). According to Voorhis & Salisbury, America records the highest prison population in the world with over two million people behind bars. As a result, the budget is very high, and some prisons have to be closed due to lack of funds. For other prisons, they cannot afford to get all the necessary equipment; this leads to idle criminals with less to do, and they end up being experts at litigation. Additionally, the rising issue of mentally challenged inmates contributes to overcrowding in the prisons. Most of them are incarcerated for minor preventable crimes of survival. Most of these controversies cannot be easily solved, especially with the high number of criminals in the prisons.

According to Lynch (2014), the first step towards ensuring justice is by punishing the wrongdoer by imprisoning them. Although most people still question the correctional effectiveness practices, it is with no doubt that it plays a significant role in crime reduction. Incapacitation, for instance, significantly prevents crime since imprisoned offenders do not have the space to commit crimes. If one gets detained without parole, then they would never have a chance to get out there and commit more crimes. Moreover, since huge number of crimes is committed by only a small number of offenders, incapacitating them, in turn, prevents a large number of crimes. It further deters crime not only to those in prison but also other individuals who might be planning to go against the law. But, the theory that prison effectively reduces crime and protects the society by serving as an instrument of punishment cannot be complete without referring to rehabilitation theory.

According to the economic theory of crime, the reasons for committing crime differ from one person to another. Regardless of the reason, rehabilitation goes a long way in changing the offender's behavior and their thinking pattern to avoid criminal activities. According to Skeem, Manchak, & Peterson (2011), counseling programs have shown effectiveness since it mainly addresses the dynamic factors associated with the criminal behaviors. However, it is also important to note that rehabilitation is not a haphazard process; it offers not only adequate medical care to prisoners but also provides psychiatric and psychological services and prepares them for parole. Besides counseling, rehabilitation also consists of skill development programs for prisoners. Voorhis & Salisbury (2016), argues that if prisoners participate in educational programs, more than forty percent of these individuals are less likely to commit more crimes after they have been released since they will have acquired a new skill which not only shapes their behaviours but also assists in changing their livelihood. Additionally, special courses offered in prisons such as anger management and other intensive courses assist them in overcoming personal problems such as drug addiction. Moreover, the correctional system assists in combating crime through retribution, also referred to as an eye for an eye. It gives the state a right to punish or impose pain equal to the one that the victim suffered; thus, if one commits murder, the only form of punishment should be similar to this crime-murder. Therefore, issuance of death penalties is useful in preventing homicides since it achieves a deterrent effect. Prisons are restricted areas meant to deny the prisoners some privileges and rights they used to enjoy before being put in custody. These coercive establishments have limited control over the convict's daily life. To hear the perspectives or listen to the voices of the convicts, canteens where prisoners can purchase the items they require have been established in most prisons. The prison environment is very complicated and contributes to the informal avenues of earning money as well as acquiring prohibited items like hard drugs. This type of economy is referred the informal economy. It is also known as underground or illicit prison economy.

Although there is a reduction in the number of actual death penalties and the number of states in support of the same, its impact is very definite (Lynch, 2014). The components of the criminal justice system work hand in hand to provide justice to both the victim and the offender while at the same time ensuring their rights is observed. Law enforcement upholds the countries and state's laws, the courts determine the necessary punishment, while corrections ensure that the punishment is administered accordingly. With the increase in technological innovations, the justice system is faced with an abundance of information technology opportunities which in future would dictate their mode of operation. The growth of social media gives citizens a platform to air their views on various issues. Such access to information shapes the peoples' attitude to justice thus fo...