Free «Charles the First» Essay

Nowadays incarceration is considered to be the most widespread type of punishment for delinquents. Measures when criminals are isolated from the society for a particular period of time for different types of crimes were supposed to be the most adequate actions. However, now experts have proved that imprisonment is not viable and effective method of punishment anymore and proposed several others variants.

One of the most alternative method is public shaming. Psyche of a human is created in a way that no matter what crime has one committed he/she would always feel pang of remorse. Moreover, public opinion is also important to people. That is why the so-called sneer company to any criminal and the following public contempt would provide more sufferings to the criminal than simple imprisonment. The evidence of the efficiency of this method is illustrated by John Anderson “Rape and sexual assaults by adults decreased more than 56 percent from 1993 to 2004. A study by the Washington State Institute for Public Policy “found a 70 percent reduction in felony sex recidivism” following their implementation of sex offender registry” (2011).

For drug -addicted criminals the most effective alternative to prison is drug-rehabilitation program. This plan implies treating felonies in special hospitals. It is an effective method because except medical treatment patients receive psychological support, which allows them to reconsider their actions and their mission in life. The evidence of its viability presents the following facts: “Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said its graduates were 87% less likely than others to return to prison” (forbes.com, 2006).

To sum it up it should be pointed out that with regard to new viable and alternative methods to incarceration, there should be chosen those ones able to reduce the number of crimes in future and change the inner world of criminals to the better way. Otherwise, all the efforts would be a waste of time.