Functionalism In Criminal Justice

According to the authors of Introduction to Criminal Justice Fifteenth Edition, “The punishment and correction of criminals has changed considerably through the ages, reflecting custom, economic conditions, and religious and political ideals” (Siegal et al., 2016, p. 422). That is to say that the punishment of criminals has been around for a very long time. Similarly, the way we deal with those who commit crimes has changed significantly. Functionalism plays into how our society as a whole deals with crime and punishment. The primary function of punishment is to deter offenders from committing other crimes, while keeping the public safe from violent offenders. In this case, the six ways that punishment is dealt with in American society today are general deterrence, specific deterrence, incapacitation, retribution/just desert, rehabilitation, and equity/restitution. For instance, “general deterrence occurs when potential offenders ‘learn of the consequences of criminal involvement [for actual offenders] and decide not to risk subjecting themselves to such punishment” …show more content…
Rehabilitation focuses on how the nature and duration of the punishment should be based on the offender’s need for treatment and potential for reform. The punishment should continue until the offender has been rehabilitated. According to Introduction to Criminal Justice, “Evaluations of education, vocation, and work programs indicate that they may be able to lower recidivism rates and increase postrelease employment” (Siegal et al., 2016, p. 546). Some of the programs that have produced positive results both in the community and inside the correctional institutions are: teaching of interpersonal skills, providing individual counseling, making use of behavior modification techniques, use of cognitive-behavior therapy, stress improving moral reasoning, and combining in-prison therapeutic communities with follow-up community