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Summary: Replacing Punishment With Rehabilitation

884 Words4 Pages

Anthony Hernandez
Christina Fernandez
English 1302
December 4, 2017
Replacing Punishment with Rehabilitation A Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu once said, “I have just three things to teach: Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures” (Goodreads p 2). Similar to Lao Tzu’s statement, patience, compassion and essentially a few other factors can serve as an important function in the way the United States prison system should operate. In today’s society, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that more than fifty percent of inmates released from prison, end up back in prison within three years after release (BJS). Despite …show more content…

Given the number of issues within the United States prison system, a better and alternative solution to retribution is rehabilitation. In Norway, the country has successfully established an efficient prison system by replacing punishment with rehabilitation. For instance, Norway at twenty percent, has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world (Deady para 8). On the other hand, the United States recidivism rate is estimated to be between sixty to seventy percent with inmates who were released, going back to prison within a three-year span (2). Comparing both Norway and the United States prison system, the Norwegian prison system holds a unique aspect towards the way their system approaches its inmates. Rather than sentencing inmates to life in prison or death, the maximum life sentence in Norway is twenty-one years (Sterbenz para 3). In addition, “at the end of the initial term, however, five-year increments can be added onto to the prisoner’s sentence every five years, indefinitely, if the system determines he or she isn’t rehabilitated” (13). The twenty-one-year life sentence essentially offers reassurance of release to inmates who choose to comply. With the amount success Norway has had with their prison system, demonstrates that replacing punishment with rehabilitation is a better solution. Regardless of Norway having a small population, replacing punishment with rehabilitation has kept the recidivism rate in Norway at a record low. In addition, due to a low recidivism rate, Norway’s incarceration has become low as well. Thus, America should replace punishment with rehabilitation, for the fact the rehabilitative prison system has demonstrated to offer better results than

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