Offender Vs Society

Compassionate criminal justice focuses on the offender more so than society. However this does not mean that the society’s or public’s needs are ignored. I think focusing more on the offender is a great way to stop the criminal from committing the crime again and possibly to give insight on how to prevent other offenders. Through process of rehabilitation we give offenders the possibility of another chance. Out of all four models; mechanical, authoritarian, compassionate, and participatory, I think compassionate is one of the more effective ones. Focusing on the needs of the offender will eventually come back to help the society. When we focus on the needs of the offender it 's easier to find out why they did what they did. We can see if …show more content…
People ask ‘does a person really change?’ I do believe that people can change. If environment shaped someone to behave a certain way it only makes sense that you can shape them a different way, a way that is more socially accepted. Rehabilitation gives offenders a second chance which I believe everyone, to a certain point, should have. Most times offenders don 't wake up and decide ‘you know what? Today I’ll commit a crime.’ There is usually a reason, whether it be mental illness, crime of passion, or peer pressure. I do believe that the victims and society should be taken care of when an offender strikes however I also believe that we should look at the offender more closely because there could be more to their story. A person who goes into a bank with a gun and no intention to kill shoots a teller. They didn 't mean to hurt anyone but they got scared when the teller reaches for something. Should this person be locked away for life? In this example there is more to the story that should be looked at. In this case we should focus more on the offender than the victim. This person could most likely be rehabilitated because it was the pressures in their surrounding area that caused them to act the way they did. Although there are some cases where rehabilitation just wouldn 't work. In cases where there is an offender with a mental illness rehabilitation would not do much good. In these situations we would need to focus on the offender and find a punishment that best fits them. This could mean mental institutions where the person could receive help to keep themselves and others safe. Putting someone in who is not mentally stable in a prison to communicate with others could be dangerous for other inmates and