PRISON AND THE PRINCIPLE OF INCAPACITATION

Prison and the Principle of Incapacitation

Prison and the Principle of Incapacitation

Introduction

Incapacitation can be defined as the process of limiting the ability of offenders to commit crimes and thus also reduces the number of crimes taking place in the area. Thus, keeping in view the major purpose of incapacitation and the motif behind it, it can be concluded that it is aimed at protecting public's property and thus serves as a barrier for the offenders and the peace spoilers. It is eminent to mention here that incapacitation only serves to keep the offenders from committing more crimes and generally does not include the physical and mental rehabilitation of them. Prisons are usually used for the incapacitation of offenders, and the following paragraphs would highlight the role of prisons preventing the offenders from committing crimes.

Discussion

Although incapacitation is essential for the reduction of crimes and the removal of trouble makers from the society, it should also be noted that prisons only serve the purpose of incapacitation of the employees with no practical participation in their development or improvement. This includes that although imprisoning the offenders keeps them from making further moves or violating further rules, it certainly does not play any part in their moral development or improvement (Harrison, 2007).

According to researches, the past behavior of individuals plays an essential part in determining their future behaviors, and thus crimes can be best prevented by incapacitation the prisoners and keeping them from committing further crimes. This also implies that individuals who have been found involved in some sort of crimes have the potential and the ability to commit more crimes, and thus have to be treated differently and with care in order to ensure protection and safety of other citizens.

As mentioned earlier, the prisoners have more tendency of committing more crimes and thus need special care and attention. Several methods have been presented to prevent the criminals from committing serious acts, which includes incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation and community restraints. Of all the methods, incapacitation is the most practiced methods which include depriving the offender of the capacity to commit crimes, by the method of detention in prison or capital punishment.

It should be noted that in order to bring about improvement in the social situation and make sure that the rate of crimes is considerable reduced, attempt should be made to rehabilitate the offenders and the criminals and guide them towards the righteous path. This implies that the mere practice of incapacitating the prisoners and putting them in prison would not serve the purpose of guiding them, and more needs to be done in order to improve the situation. Latest researches and studies have shown that individuals who are provided with the chances of rehabilitation and improvement have high chances of moving towards betterment. Thus it is recommended that the prisoners should be provided with something more than mere imprisonment in order to bring long term changes in the society and alter the mentality of the ...