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REHABILITATION IS EFFECTIVE AT REDUCING CRIME
1. THERE IS WIDE-RANGING EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF REHABILITATION.
MIRKO BAGARIC AND KUMAR AMARASEKARA, School of Law, Deakin
University and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Monash University, April,
2000 (Melbourne University Law Review, THE ERRORS OF RETRIBUTIVISM, 24 Melbourne U. L.R. 124, p. Np)
The evidence concerning rehabilitation is more promising than was the case a quarter of
a century ago. In a recent wide-ranging review of the published studies in rehabilitation (which compared the recidivism rate
of offenders who were subject to rehabilitative treatment with those who were not), Howells and Day conclude that there has
been a significant degree of success with cognitive-behavioural programs. These
programs target factors that are (presumably) changeable and are directed at the 'criminogenic needs' of offenders, that is,
factors which are directly related to the offending, such as anti-social attitudes and a lack of problem-solving skills and
self-control. Promising programs have been developed in the areas of anger management, sexual offending and drug and alcohol
use. These appear to be more successful than programs based on, for example, confrontation or direct deterrence, physical
challenge or vocational training. Three judges in Missouri have even imposed transcendental meditation
programs as part of the probation conditions of minor offenders, apparently with great success.
2. THERE IS WIDE-RANGING EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THE EFFECTIVENESS
OF REHABILITATION. .
MIRKO BAGARIC AND KUMAR AMARASEKARA, School of Law, Deakin
University and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Monash University, April,
2000 (Melbourne University Law Review, THE ERRORS OF RETRIBUTIVISM, 24 Melbourne U. L.R. 124, p. Np)
The evidence concerning rehabilitation is more promising than was the case a quarter of
a century ago. In a recent wide-ranging review of the published studies in rehabilitation (which compared the recidivism rate
of offenders who were subject to rehabilitative treatment with those who were not), Howells and Day conclude that there has
been a significant degree of success with cognitive-behavioural programs. These programs target factors that are (presumably)
changeable and are directed at the 'criminogenic needs' of offenders, that is, factors which are directly related to the offending,
such as anti-social attitudes and a lack of problem-solving skills and self-control. Promising programs have been developed
in the areas of anger management, sexual offending and drug and alcohol use. These appear to be more successful than programs
based on, for example, confrontation or direct deterrence, physical challenge or vocational training. n48 Three judges in
Missouri have even imposed transcendental meditation programs as part of the probation conditions
of minor offenders, apparently with great success.
ANSWER TO: REHABILITATION WILL NOT WORK FOR HARDCORE
OFFENDERS
1. WE SHOULD ENCORAGE REHABILITATION FOR ALL OFFENDERS.
Christian Sullivan, 2001 (Northern Illinois
University Law Review, Juvenile Delinquency in the Twenty-First Century: Is Blended
Sentencing the Middle-Road Solution for Violent Kids, 21 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 483, p. Np) There is no simple answer to the problem of effectively combating
juvenile crime in the twenty-first century. Indeed, the answer changes as society changes, becoming more complex with the
passage of time. It is just as unrealistic to think that rehabilitation can be achieved for every juvenile offender, as it
is to think that locking kids up, just like adults, will solve the problem of youth crime. We must strike a balance between
protection form arbitrary punishment of young, troubled citizens and protection of society from truly dangerous threats by
its youth, in order to find an effective middle-road solution to violent juvenile crime. As the scenario in In re G.O., illustrates,
we need to encourage rehabilitation for habitual offenders and violent offenders alike, rather than simply transferring kids
to adult court at younger and younger ages
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