NCJ Number
75634
Journal
University of British Columbia Law Report Volume: 12 Issue: 2 Dated: (1978) Pages: 295-319
Date Published
1978
Length
25 pages
Annotation
The concepts of criminal rehabilitation, deterrence, and retribution are discussed from historical and theoretical perspectives and a justification for punishing criminal acts is presented.
Abstract
Rehabilitation programs focus on changing the behavior of criminal offenders. This approach has received considerable support recently; however, the key to rehabilitating offenders has not yet been discovered. In addition, the indeterminate sentences used in conjunction with treatment programs are frequently even less humane than retributive approaches. Recent studies have indicated that little real rehabilitation occurs in prisons. Deterrence has not been successful because criminals do not generally subscribe to community moral values. Retribution is based on society's desire to mete out deserved punishment for the commission of offenses against laws which define and protect the freedom of its members. An important criticism of the retributive approach is that it unfairly punishes the powerless and poor for their justifiable actions against an oppressive society. This argument, however, applies only to property offenses. Footnotes are included.