Problems Related to Reintegration after Prisonization - Research Paper Example

Running head: PROBLEMS RELATED TO REINTEGRATION AFTER PRISONIZATION Problems Related with Reintegration after Prisonization I. Introduction II. Crimes and Punishments : A concise statement of the history of crimes and punishments, the change of governing bodies of law and order like the church courts and the manor courts in the olden times to county courts and high courts in the 21st century, keeping England as one of the earliest civilized societies, as the base over which the study is based. A. Petty Crimes: Incidences and corresponding punishments to petty crimes like theft is discussed. i) Biblical Explanation – The interpretation of the crime of theft in the bible. Stealing is forbidden in the ten commandments, yet the punishment for it is lenient and not above forgiveness. ii) Evaluation – A summary of the obstacles in the path of rehabilitation of the ex-prisoners, convicted of petty crimes like stealing, larceny, etc. iii) Recommendations - The various methods by which criminals can be corrected and their participation as a part of the society can be improved on. B. Grave Crimes: Incidences and corresponding punishments to graver crimes like murder or manslaughter is discussed. i) Biblical Explanation – Graver crimes like homicide is interpreted in the light of the views in the Bible. Murder entitles the death penalty but there is always the scope of pardon, evident from the biblical story of ‘Cain and Abel’. ii) Evaluation - An analysis of the actual factors that leads normal individuals to turn into hardened criminals and solutions to those problems. iii) Recommendations – Methods of correction for criminals convicted of grave crimes like, murder. III. Economic Perspective : The possible contribution of the rehabilitated convicts to the growth of economy and national income generation. Also, their economic contribution to community services and welfare activities is analyzed. IV. Conclusion : A summary of the process of rehabilitation of ex-convicts and reintegrating them into the society. V. References Abstract The study of the possible problems in the reintegration of the imprisoned into the civil society reveals the complexities that exist in this case. The embarrassment faced by an ex-convict to face society, in the aftermath of his sentence, is a very sensitive issue and hence, should be handled with the utmost kindness and caution. Generosity of heart, in this respect, may reap huge dividends and solve the problems that cannot be solved by a harsher treatment of criminals. If anything, injudicious punishments can actually cause more crimes than solve them as is evident from studying the upsurge of terrorism in various nations. A person who had committed a crime should not be treated as an outcast throughout his life and the society, as a whole, should strive to be less judgmental and hypocritical. Economically, the study shows the benefits in GDP creation that can be accrued if the these imprisonized population is converted into an active workforce, consistently contributing to National Income. This is a section of huge untapped labor power that can find employment in the informal sector and must be fully utilized for optimum growth of the economy. Prisons are considered to be the god-forsaken margins of a society, both from a rigid Christian point of view as well as a general one. To survive in these pockets of crime, malice and violence, an individual has to transform oneself completely, psychologically and physically. No matter how normal or innocent, a person is compelled to develop certain skills and attributes that are “considered highly dysfunctional in free society” (Marlow, 2008, p.42). Since these sites are infested with mutual mistrust, isolation from the society at large, dependence on the institution and an ever-dangling danger of bloodshed, a person may feel limited, humiliated, and extremely deprived. This makes a dent on his persona indefinitely and poses as a problem in the path of reintegration into the society. Hence, proper and efficient programs must be formulated to rehabilitate these deprived beings as normal, responsible citizens of the civil society. Crimes and Punishments If a multitude of elements coexist in a society, there are bound to be some who will try to cheat, overpower, and cause harm to others. This is the reason that the society’s cup has been, in all ages, brimming with crimes ranging from theft to murder to heresy to adultery and much more. Thus, there have also been investments on the forces, like the police forces, the courts, etc, that would save the civil society from the repercussions of these crimes. England is considered to be the society that was the first to develop in this respect. By the middle ages, the rule of law and order was in full swing in England through the operation of Church Courts and Manor Courts. Church courts were run by the Clerics, who were expected to lead their lives in accordance with certain rules and laws and discharge a given set of duties. These courts gave out verdicts pertaining to marriage, theft, ownership of property. Another popular form of court, operating in that period were the Manor Courts which decided criminal and civil cases. The Manor Courts were private courts of the Lords of particular regions and usually took care of the law and order issues of that region, something similar to the modern concept of regional High Courts in different regions. In the 19th century, England commanded the best Police force and consequently, the prevalent rate of crime were at an all-time low (Briggs, 1996, p.33, 38). With passage of time, the nature of crimes, the procedure for their trials and the law and order maintaining-bodies have changed. So, the Manor Courts and the Church Courts have been replaced by County Courts, High Courts and the Supreme Court, the Court of all courts. Similarly, the nature and degree of crimes has also altered. The current English law is differentiated into Arrestable and Non-arrestable crimes. Arrestable crimes are those for which an individual can be arrested, even without a warrant and includes murder, assault, unlawful ownership of vehicles, etc. Non-arrestable crimes, on the other hand, are those for which even though a person may be kept in custody, he cannot be arrested. These consist of the remainder of the crimes. Two fundamental crimes, without which our analysis will be incomplete has been evaluated below from the point of view of rehabilitation, in a Christian and general humane sense (Hirschell, Hirschell, Wakefeild and Sasse, 2008, p.36). Petty Crimes The English Law of olden times were very strict for petty crimes like theft, awarding even Capital Punishment in some cases. Theft cases consisted of petty thefts or grand thefts, larceny, etc. However, in recent times England has shown a leniency towards laws pertaining to theft. On an average, sentence for theft has decreased from 10 years to 7 years. Imprisonment meant that a person convicted of theft had to stay in isolation, along with criminals convicted of other graver crimes, for a considerable time. Biblical Explanation In the Ten Commandments, a religious text of the Christians that provides the guidelines for an ideal Christian life, theft of any form is prohibited. However, the Bible represents a unique leniency towards petty crimes like theft or any other property crimes. It has never suggested the Capital Punishment for these types of crimes. This may be due to the fact that the ten commandments are only directives as to how to lead one’s life and the Bible is based on human values. So, it teaches forgiveness for petty crimes (Friedman and Dolansky, 2011). Evaluation The rehabilitation of a person who had served a prison term for theft becomes difficult due to the fact that he had had to spend time with other anti-socials who may have been convicted of graver crimes. Company of the more dangerous criminals may actually result in a petty thief becoming a hardened criminal, either in their association or animosity. Another ill effect in this case would be that a person, as a consequence of isolation from community and familial ties, may lose the desire to form an integrative part of the civil society. Yet another effect may be that (and this happens usually in case of the conviction of an innocent person) the ex-prisoner becomes depressed and hopeless as a result of the torture and humiliation suffered within the prison. This may also lead to him/her becoming suicidal or mentally insolvent. Recommendations The best way to house convicts of petty crimes will be to create a separate prison for them altogether so that naïve criminals do not turn into hardened robbers or murderers. Staying in the company of people who are in similar situations, sharing experiences, feelings, opinions, and communicating on a day-to-day basis may also help them in feeling less isolated from their families and the world, at large and hence, the rehabilitation procedure will become so much easier. Regular visits of friends and family members to the prisoners must be allowed so that they do not lose the desire to lead a normal life again. In fact the petty criminals such as these need not be imprisoned at all. By socially shaming them judiciously, they may be cured. It has been proved that the “societies with low crime rates are those that shame potently and judiciously” (Braithwaite, 1989, p.1). Also, some kind of counseling or psychiatric sessions must be administered to the prisoners in order to help them reform and get to the heart of the problem. Regular vigilance must ensure that there is no bloodshed, or torment, or other harm done to any prisoner within the cell by a fellow convict. This rule extends to the staff of the prisons as well. They must be trained adequately to undertake their duties effectively but with a humane touch. Grave Crimes Grave crimes like murder or manslaughter have always been dealt by the Capital Punishment since times immemorial but a trend towards life-imprisonment in place of death penalty is seen to be evolving slowly. In fact a life-term does not mean a life term literally. Within a period of 16-17 years, on an average, a convict may be released on parole or sometimes, even pardoned as a result of good conduct inside the prison. So, the issue of rehabilitation of these murder convicts will also have to be addressed. This is tougher than the rehabilitation of criminals committing petty crimes because the time period of isolation is longer. Biblical Explanation The bible also forbids the act of murder and based on this some scholars claim that god himself implemented the death penalty for murder. However, evidence contrasting to this claim had been found in the story of ‘Cain and Abel’ in which the Almighty not only forgives Cain, who is a murderer but also protects him from other dangers. Having analyzed this story, it can be said that the punishment meted out for murder would depend on the intentions of the murderer and also his state of heart once the crime is committed (Jones, 2006, p.16). Evaluation A violent outburst like murder can may indicate that something is wrong in a person in a deeper, psychological sense. A term in prison may make a person more desperate and take him further from humanity. What usually happens inside the prisons housing murder convicts are random cases of murder, assault, and bloodshed. In this case, too, there are some innocent victims who are wrongfully charged with murder. Some are crimes of passion and some committed in cold-blood. It is this cold-blooded murderers who are the most dangerous but they are also the most deprived ones and in need of most mental assistance. Harsher punishments are definitely not the answer as it only helps to roughen them further and re-stresses their antipathy towards law. Recommendations In addition to some of the recommendations quoted for the petty criminals, even more concentrated efforts should be made to absorb these defaulters into the civil society. Regular counseling sessions, discussions, religious instructions and even some sort of extra-curricular activities must be undertaken to help them recover from their present state of mind. Hardened criminals are born mainly due to some great grievances or anger inflicted on them by past events. Efforts should be made to find out and address these issues. Also, ways must be discovered to motivate them in positive and constructive ways. For example, if someone is interested in painting, he must be encouraged to paint. Community programs may also be formulated that will make the prisoners actively participate in community service. Economic Perspective The rehabilitated criminals may be employed in whatever jobs they may special in or are ready to participate in. This will lead to a growth in GDP creation and increase in generation of national income. Adding them to the workforce will result in further diversification and strength of the labor force. More members in the community will also mean more donations and participation in community services. At worst, if it is observed that the ways of an ex-criminal has not been cured completely, fines can be imposed that will be used for creating better living conditions and welfare activities in prisons. Conclusion It may be concluded that the faith in humanity is the key to the problem of rehabilitation of criminals and the society has to play the pivotal role in this respect by welcoming the ex-convicts back into the society with open arms and help them lead normal lives again for no crime is unpardonable if it is regretted genuinely and a person always deserves a chance to redress his wrongdoings. The benefits of accepting back these situational defaulters are manifold and immense, at the level of familial ties, at the level of community as well as with respect to a economic growth of the economy by the employment of these convicts in the informal sector. References Braithwaite, J (1989). Crime, shame and Reintegration. UK: Cambridge University Press. Briggs, J (1996). Crime and Punishment in England: An Introductory History. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Friedman, R.E and Dolansky, S (2011). The Bible Now. New York: Oxford University Press. Hirschell, D, Hirschell, J.D, Wakefeild, W.O and Sasse, S (2008). Criminal Justice in England and the United States. Ontario and London: Jones and Barlett Publishers. Jones, M (2006). Criminals of the Bible: Twenty Five Case Studies of Biblical Crimes and Outlaws. Michigan: Faith Walk Publishing. Marlow, E (2008).The impact of Healthcare Access on the community Reintegration of Male Parolees. USA: ProQuest LLC. Stone, R (1999). Offences Against the Person. London: Cavendish Publishing Ltd. Read More