Should Offenders Be Subjected to Public Punishment - Term Paper Example

Should offenders be ed to public punishment, such as sex offender registration and DUI license plates? Statistical information on sex abuse Understanding the magnitude of a problem is critical when one wants to come up with a solution. We agree that sexual abuse and molestation is an issue of concern in the nation. In order to argue on whether the punishment for the offenders is rational or not, we have to have holistic understanding of the situation (Thomas 228). We need to understand the victims, offenders and the rate of prevalence of the crime. Sex abuse is a crime as it is against the penal code of the nation. According to the national health statistics, 44% of the victims of sexual abuse are below the age of 18. Further, 80% of all the victims are below the age of 30. This information gives as the age group that forms the target of this heinous crime. It clearly shows that the school going children and young adults are the ones that feel the burden of this social evil. This is an issue of concern to parents as they have to worry constantly whenever their children are out of there site (Mancini & Daniel 34). In the United States, after every two minutes, there is a sexual assault happening. The number of people sexually assaulted in one year is massive. The number we are discussing here is the one from reported cases. The nature of crime is such that we cannot be able to capture every instance that the law if broken. In this case, reports from the police indicate that 54 % of sexual crimes go unreported (Mancini & Daniel 34). To add on that the reports indicate that 97% of all the offenders involved in these crimes go unpunished. The sexual offenders have similar personalities to those of serial murderers. This is to mean that they have a high predisposition to commit even murder (Thomas 228). This is not strange there have been cases of sexual molestation and murder. Ninety six percent of the offenders is male. Seventy seven percent of the offenders are adult. These statistics show that the people who commit the sexual offences are mostly adults who are fully aware of their action. The sexual offenders are people recognizable with their victims. Sexual offences committed to victims below the age of six years by strangers make only three percent of the cases reported. The assault committed by strangers increase to five percent for children aged between six and eleven. In every five sexual offenders, serving a jail term one of them is because of victimizing a child. People known to the child do eighty-nine percent of the cases of child abuse (Comartin et al. 605). The relative to the victims account for twenty nine percent of the sexual abuse cases. These statistics are mapping out a scenario that would make any person worry. The situation is raising more questions than the available answer. What has the world come to? Can we be able to achieve safety? If sexual abuse is largely from people, we are familiar with relatives included. Who then can we trust with personal safety? This means that we have to get a solution in order to arrest the situation (Comartin et al. 611). What are the effects of sexual abuse? Sexual abuse is a problem because of the consequences that it has on the victims. In America, today, there are over sixty million people, who at one point in their lives have been victims of sexual abuse (Thomas 228). This people have scars left behind by the acts of sexual molestation. The act destabilizes the victims psychologically and causes physical injuries. The psychological effects are long term and difficult to treat. The victims usually require specialized care of a psychiatrist to help them regain a normal life. The services many sometimes are beyond what the victims can afford. The victims have difficulties in developing of relationships with other people. They mistrust whenever someone tries to bond with them. They have feelings of hatred, which they direct to those around them. This behavior makes other people avoid associating with them. When others recoil away from them, they feel betrayed and become melancholic. They then suffer from low self-esteem and lack of confidence in themselves. Adults are ones who exhibit these observations (Comartin et al. 605). The other consequences’ of sexual abuse is getting pregnant. When a victim gets pregnant, she may feel resentment towards the unborn. This may make the person opt to abort the foetus. Other complications relating to the sexuality of the victim may arise. The victim may never be able to give birth. The other effect is the person may become reckless about their sexual life. This exposes them to the risks of sexually transmitted diseases (Comartin et al. 608). The victims also build up disorders and tend to start abusing alcohol. The behavior the victims deteriorate, and they start to self indulge. They gain weight and distance themselves from other people. The bond between them and other family members decline due to the habits that the victims of abuse develop. The victims also tend to exhibit perfectionist characteristic and have irrational demands on others. These effects negatively influence the lives of the affected and people surrounding those (Comartin et al. 611). The offenders who are causing these problems need punishment. The modality, measure and extent of punishment are what is in dispute. I am a proponent of DUI licenses’ for the sex offenders and their registration in order to keep a watchful eye on them. These measures are just what the society needs to do in order to ensure some level of safety. The sexual offenders will have distinctive licenses for the duration of five years. To discourage the offenders This unique number plate will act as a tool of identification for the offenders. The personnel charged with the responsibility, of enforcing the law, will easily spot these offenders. The offenders become conspicuous, and their movement becomes easy to trace. The members of the society get educated, and they will be on guard when relating with such people. This will be an exceptionally powerful tool to discourage the offenders from committing the crime. The exposure to the public for a reasonable duration limits the offender’s movement. The offender’s image among peers gets tarnished. This is an excellent approach to make the offenders feel the weight of their actions. They lose respect, and they have to work hard to regain their elevated status. This measure will discourage others who could be contemplating to victimize someone sexually. The prospect of having to move around with a number plate that identifies them as offenders will make people reconsider their actions (Mancini & Daniel 34). The parents will be more peaceful as they have an assurance about the safety of their children and themselves. The children will have a greater freedom to play in the open ground and enjoy their childhood. The offender get humiliated, but that is a minute penalty to forfeit compared with the harm they cause the society. This will interfere with the freedom of the offender. However, they do not deserve that freedom because they do not deserve it as they are acting from instinct rather than logic (Mancini & Daniel 34). Distribution of cost The purpose of punishment is to redistribute the effect of the punishment. The people violated sexually have to live with the nightmare of that unfortunate incident. Thus, it would be unfair that the offender would get of the crime lightly. Every person must bear the responsibility of his or her action. It would be wrong to bend the rule of law simply because of the sentiments that we hold. The family of the offender has concerns of their person. It is tolerable given that it does not get in the way with the rights of others (Mancini & Daniel 34). Picture a young, innocent girl or boy picking flowers in the field then someone abuses the child. The world of the child gets shattered. The innocence lost forever. The child tastes the cruelty of the world and the lawlessness of people. The person who commits this wicked act does it for pleasure and if found deserves no mercy. We cannot restore what the victims of sexual harassment lose but can make the perpetrator feel the weight of his or her actions (Thomas 228). This is the sure way to avoid people revenging for evils done to them. Registration and distinctive licenses for sex offender are strict measures that will make the streets safer. In addition, the person who commits sexual offence will have a constant reminder of their actions (Thomas 228). This will make them careful as they handle others, as a repeat offence will attract a higher penalty. The victims also get the satisfaction of seeing justice executed. This may not be sufficient, but it serves the needs of the offended and protects the society. Incapacitation of the offender The alternative to special licenses and registration of offenders is serving of a jail term. This option is uneconomical, since the state resources maintain the offender while in jail. As a development conscious nation, we need to employ all the human labour at our disposal. However, this does not mean that our need for growth will blind us in maintaining of nonviolent coexistence among ourselves (White 161). Thus, the out of jail mode of punishment is ideal. It meets the needs of the state and serves the victim. The bill incapacitates the offender by limiting the areas that he or she can access. This makes those areas to be safe zones. This is an ideal situation as the offender may defy the law and go to those areas. However, with a good tracking system that locates the whereabouts of the offender tracking them into those areas will be easy. Incapacitating of the offenders is effective in prevention of crime especially for the repeat offenders. The measure confines the offender within in a specific known region (Mancini & Daniel 34). The law enforcers then can easily trace the movements of the offender and prevent the commission of crimes. The aim of this legislation takes minimal efforts to meet. The objectives of putting laws in place are not to gratify the offenders. If pleasing the offenders were the objective of laws, then making them would not have been necessary. Thus, we have to examine these legislations with sobriety. These will be the only way that we will be able to make a forward move in the nation. (Mancini & Daniel 34) Restoration of justice The current laws have been ineffective in the restoration of justice. The rates sexual offences have not decreased. This is what has necessitated the review of the current laws and the creating of an additional set of laws. The nature of people is such that they get contented with what is common. These new legislations are upsetting this order, and people have to be edgy. However, the new laws merit implementation. It is the only time can disapprove their applicability (White 161). Conclusion When an offence is weighty, the measure against it should be serious. Every awakening report of sexual abuse fills the news. It is, therefore, paramount to come up with a solution that will arrest the situation (White 161). This is not for the faint hearted and the sentimental. The feelings of mercy have no place in the world ruled by violence and aggression. We cannot sit back and assume nothing is happening. We cannot afford to wish the problem away, assuming it does not exist. Thus, serious action is what we need. The sexual molesters are turning our lives into nightmares. Labeling then will give peace many families. The harm that the offenders cause to the victims is far above the ground. Therefore, the mitigating measure should equally be severe. Why someone should advocate the sparing of a sexual molester, is not logical. Raising the societal awareness about their neighbor is welcome (Gregg et al. 360). If the current modes are not helpful, trying out something new is relieving. The implementation of this two legislations needs that some reforms in the judicial system. The innocent people who get mistaken do not have to undergo the humiliation that the new rule will be inflicting on the offenders. This is to mean that the margin of error in making a judgment on an accused person eliminated. This will make people have faith in the system. They will be sure that the new law will not victimize honest citizens of the nation (Gregg et al. 367). Works cited Gregg Dwyer, et al. "The Management of Sex Offenders: Perspectives For Psychiatry." Harvard Review of Psychiatry 18.6 (2010): 359-368. Print White, Kari. "where will they go? sex offender residency restrictions as modern-day banishment. (Cover Story)." Case Western Reserve Law Review 59.1 (2008): 161. MasterFILE Premier. Comartin, Erin, Poco Kernsmith, and Roger Kernsmith. "Sanctions For Sex Offenders: Fear And Public Policy." Journal Of Offender Rehabilitation 48.7 (2009): 605-619. Print Thomas, Terry. "The Sex Offender ‘Register’: A Case Study In Function Creep." Howard Journal Of Criminal Justice 47.3 (2008): 227-237. Print. Mancini, Christina, and Daniel Mears. "To Execute Or Not To Execute? Examining Public Support For Capital Punishment Of Sex Offenders." Criminal Justice Research Review 13.2 (2011): 34. Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text. Read More