Should Criminals Be Punished with Jail Terms or Re-educated

Should Criminals Be Punished with Jail Terms or Re-educated? Wherever there are laws, there would always be people in this world to break them. The need to enforce laws and punish lawbreakers is an inevitable part of life. People go against the law due to many reasons. What is of high importance is determining the right way to handle these people so that they could be reintroduced to society as responsible and useful citizens. There are people who think that lawbreakers should serve lengthy jail terms as punishments for their offenses. This idea could be partly right, because one of the main reasons for administering punishment is that it would discourage other people from committing the same offense. But although the jail term that the law offenders go through might be a warning to other people, it may not necessarily be helpful in reforming the offenders and turning them into better people. The jail term would just prevent them from being out in the open and committing another offense. It may not serve any other higher purpose. In order to truly reform the offenders, they need to be reeducated and rehabilitated. There are a number of community service programs that they can be involved in, which can help them develop a sense of responsibility and self-worth. Instead of seeing themselves as law offenders, they would begin to see themselves as useful people contributing their time and efforts towards the welfare of the community. This change in their perception about themselves and what they can do will totally transform them from the inside. Statistics reveals that when offenders are provided spiritual guidance from scriptures, the reformation has a lasting effect on them. For instance, the success rates in prisons, where rehabilitation programs involve spiritual instructions, are far higher than in prisons where only ethical principles are taught.