Why do so many people not seem to understand that some criminals cannot be rehabilitated?
The most dangerous criminals cannot be rehabilitated. Child predators, rapists, serial killers… these people cannot be "fixed." Attempts to rehabilitate them have failed over and over.
In the 70s, the American Justice system was all about furloughs and rehab and work release and feel-good do your own thing. So many murderers were released because they were considered "rehabilitated" just to kill again (sometimes many times) that the laws were changed. Rehabilitating these people DOES NOT WORK because they don’t WANT to change. No amount of rehabilitation or counseling or therapy is going to make a bit of a difference because they WANT to be killers or rapists or child molesters and there are A LOT of them. Why is this so hard to understand?
In the words of Dr. Park Dietz, world-renowned forensic psychiatrist and criminologist speaking of serial killers: "Their orgasm is more important than your life." You cannot rehabilitate a person like this. As far as child molesters, that is their sexuality. Period. Could someone rehab you out of YOUR sexuality? No. They tried to do that to homosexuals for years. It doesn’t work. Rapists have fused sexual excitement, control and violence in their minds long before they started raping and that is their sexuality too. It cannot be undone.
Why can people not understand that nothing can make these kinds of criminals any better or worse? They are going to do what they want to do, regardless.
(This is in part why I support the death penalty but that is not the point of this question.)
@Miss Independent: I am not talking about non-violent offenders. That is a whole different thing. And as far as the death penalty, it guarantees that that person will never kill anyone again. That is good enough for me. Just keeping them locked up is not enough. How many guards and other inmates are killed by murderers serving life sentences? If a guy goes to jail for stealing a car, should he have to die for that?
@The Blackadder: For appropriate cases, I advocate the death penalty. For others, I advocate maximum jail sentences. If we can’t rehab them, keep them out of prison as long as is possible based on the crime they commit. Then a very long, very strict parole, if they must be let out at all.
LMAO. That should be "out of commission", not "out of prison." ;0)
Posted in forensic psychiatrist
content rss
August 28th, 2010 at 9:32 am
For the worst crimes, life without parole is better, for many reasons.
I’m against the death penalty but not because of sympathy for criminals. It doesn’t prevent or reduce crime, costs a whole lot more than life in prison, and, worst of all, risks executions of innocent people.
The worst thing about it. Errors:
The system can make tragic mistakes. In 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in Texas for starting the fire that killed his children. The Texas Forensic Science Commission has determined that the arson testimony that led to his conviction was based on flawed science. As of today, 138 wrongly convicted people who were sentenced to death have been exonerated. DNA is rarely available in homicides, often irrelevant (as in the Willingham case) and can’t guarantee we won’t execute innocent people. Capital juries are dominated by people who favor the death penalty and are more likely to vote to convict.
Keeping killers off the streets for good:
Life without parole, on the books in 49 states (all except Alaska), also prevents reoffending. It means what it says, and spending the rest of your life locked up, knowing you’ll never be free, is no picnic. Two big advantages:
-an innocent person serving life can be released from prison
-life without parole costs less than the death penalty
Costs, a surprise to many people:
Study after study has found that the death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison. The high costs of the death penalty are for the complicated legal process, with the largest costs at the pre-trial and trial stages. The point is to avoid executing innocent people. There are tremendous expenses in a death penalty case whether or not the defendant is convicted, let alone sentenced to death.
Crime reduction (deterrence):
The death penalty doesn’t keep us safer. Homicide rates for states that use the death penalty are consistently higher than for those that don’t. The most recent FBI data confirms this. For people who lack a conscience, fear of being caught is the best deterrent.
Who gets it:
Contrary to popular belief, the death penalty isn’t reserved for the worst crimes, but for defendants with the worst lawyers. It doesn’t apply to people with money. Practically everyone sentenced to death had to rely on an overworked public defender. How many people with money have been executed??
Victims:
People assume that families of murder victims want the death penalty imposed. It just isn’t so. Some are against it on moral grounds. But even families who have supported the death penalty in principle have testified to the damage that the death penalty process does to families like theirs and that life without parole is an appropriate alternative.
It comes down to whether we should keep a system for the sake of retribution or revenge even though it isn’t effective in reducing violent crime, costs much more than alternatives and, worst of all, can lead to the nightmare of executing someone for a crime he didn’t commit.
August 28th, 2010 at 9:32 am
Why do so many people not seem to understand that some criminals can be rehabilitated?
August 28th, 2010 at 9:32 am
The unfortunate truth is that the youthful majority is full of emotional nutjobs incapable of logical reasoning.
August 28th, 2010 at 9:32 am
There needs to be a release of non violent offenders more often if there to be less street crime for that matter. As for the death penalty its not cost effective nor a deterrance. In Places where the death penalty is impose there are still high cases of homocide. Case in point.
August 28th, 2010 at 9:32 am
What do you suppose they do with prisoners then, just let them fall deeper into the criminal culture, that will cost the state more in the long term, in resources and the crime rate will continue to rise.
August 28th, 2010 at 9:32 am
I understand it. And the offenses you named up top are perfect examples. Ironically, murderers (not serial killers) have one of the lowest recidivism rates. But they still need to be punished. There is no perfect penal system.
February 7th, 2011 at 4:54 am
Interesting post and thanks for sharing. Some things in here I have not thought about before.I liked the posts and cool layout you have here! Nice site! I enjoy a couple of from the articles which have been written, and particularly the comments posted!
web design company.
website designers
May 16th, 2011 at 8:27 am
Excellent Blog. I really want to admire the quality of this post. I like the way of your presenting ideas, views and valuable content. No doubt you are doing great work. I’ll be waiting for your next article. Thanks .Keep it up!
web design courses