Essay On Retribution And Rehabilitation

Retribution and Rehabilitation Looking at both sides of an imposed sentence can be tricky. On the retribution side of sentencing a judge or magistrate may feel the offender deserves the sentence for the crime they stand before them on without looking at the recidivism possibility. Often, when a judge or magistrate looks at the possibility of recidivism, they tend to learn towards a sentence structured around rehabilitation to help reduce the offender’s chance of committing crimes in the future. Both positions have a place in handing down fair and just sentences. The decision of what type of sentence to impose and which one will work best for each individual criminal are things that come together before the court as a joint effort by many parties …show more content…
If the offender has a lengthy drug history that has never been addressed the judge may sentence the offender to rehabilitation. The offender may be committing crimes based on their addiction to drugs or alcohol. In case like this that would most likely be a key point in reducing recidivism. If the offender is no longer addicted to drugs or alcohol, they will not commit crimes in the future is the judges thinking. But when you have an offender who commits a crime just because or intentionally that is a different story and they should be sentenced based on that fact. Retribution is defined as “something given or demanded as repayment form wrongdoing; ‘getting even’ for violating the social contract on which the law is based” according to Larry Siegel in The Correctional System. (2014) The retributive type of sentence is often referred to as “Just Dessert.” Unlike an imposed rehabilitation based sentence, a judge may not way his/her sentencing decision on information gathering in a PSI report. This type of sentence reduces judicial discretion and is specific to the crime committed without taking into consideration of the individual