Instructor:
Course:
Date:
Crime and Punishment
The main mandate of the justice system is to investigate, make arrests, gather evidence, bring charges forward, conduct trials, render a sentence and carry out a punishment. The judicial system is therefore trusted to make the right judgments and to give punishments only to those who deserve it in proportion to the nature of the crimes they have committed. They are not expected to make mistakes because they are supposed to conduct a sufficient investigation and gather enough evidence before they can convict a criminal (Gilligan 47). It is a pity however how many people are serving sentences for crimes they have never committed. Innocent people are languishing in jails in many parts of …show more content…
One aspect we are usually taught is that of forgiveness. We also taught that as human beings we should be able to understand people, the motive behind their actions and that we try to help this people overcome their weaknesses. But is there really a relationship between forgiveness and crime? Many scholars will argue that when it comes to crime, there is no room for forgiveness. Forgiveness and lack of punishment for criminals can also lead to the up rise of criminal activities because people will take shelter or solace in the fact that there is no punishment after …show more content…
Punishments are meant to help people change and not make them worse and bitter people. In my view, punishment should go hand in hand with counseling to help these criminals understand why they are being punished and also help them overcome any shortcomings they might be having that could be a cause to their behavior as Gilligan argues. Corporal punishment is therefore not justified at all. The canning and flogging or infliction of pain on one’s body only increases the feeling of shame and loss of self-worth in individuals. It barely serves to produce more stubborn and better criminals rather than help them change to be better citizens. Death penalties should even be a thing of the past by now according to me. The people who are sentenced to death are not given a chance to reform. Even if they regret their actions and they want to be better persons, they are not given the chance to make their wishes come