Punishment vs Rehabilitation in the Criminal Justice System

The expectations that our society has for the criminal justice system is to punish and rehabilitate individuals who commit crime. Punishment and rehabilitation are also two of the four acknowledged objectives of the criminal justice system, with deterrence and incapacitation being the others. In the United States, punishment has always been the primary goal to achieve when dealing with individuals who commit acts of crime. Many theorists throughout history have argued which is more effective, punishment or rehabilitation. The effectiveness of punishment and rehabilitation has been analyzed to see the effects on victims and offenders and also the social and fiscal impact on our society. The Classical School of Criminology has proposed that punishment is used to create deterrence and the Positive School of Criminology uses the practice of rehabilitation to reduce recidivism.