Analysis Of Imprisonment In Moskos In Defense Of Flogging

“If you were sentenced to five years in prison, but had the option of receiving lashes instead, what would you choose?” Writer and former police officer Peter Moskos thinks that most people would opt to receive ten lashes rather than spend five years in prison. This proposition from Moskos is the basis of his 2011 book ‘In Defense of Flogging,’ wherein he suggests corporal punishment as an alternative to incarceration. When a crime is committed, society expects an appropriate punishment to be enforced on the offender. Due to a lack of alternatives, the prison system has become the default mode of punishment. The broken prison system suffers from a multitude of problems such as overcrowding, institutional racism and violence. The reliance on imprisonment as punishment has contributed to record high levels of incarcerated peoples. Due to the difficulty that reforming the current prison system would involve, an alternative system of punishment is necessary.

There are many different perspectives on punishment within communities of scholars, historians and …show more content…
Imprisonment is viewed as the most humane response to deviant behavior, however most individuals, in Moskos’ opinion would choose the alternative. There needs to be an alternative means of punishment other than incarceration. Punishment is expected and is an important part of a working justice system because criminal behavior must be penalized in some form and it is deemed necessary in order to maintain a functioning and orderly society. To respond appropriately to deviant behavior, society must adapt the carceral system or find a suitable alternative if punishment is to continue as an effective response to