Unfair Punishments of Victimless Crimes and the Solution of Rehabilitation Instead of Punishments

Unfair Punishments of Victimless Crimes and the Solution of Rehabilitation Instead of Punishments

A victimless crime is an unlawful act that either directly or indirectly involves the assassin or the adults because it concurs with nature, and there is no actual victim. For instance, in today’s world, there are those unfair punishments given to people who commit crimes without victims. For example, such punishments may include sanctions such as deprivations of liberty, reprimands, ostracism, fines, the infliction of pain, incarcerations, the death penalty, and amputation. These punishments are unfair in today’s world, and instead of punishing them, they should go through rehabilitation programs.

Unfair punishments are given to those who commit crimes without victims

As stated above, there are those unfair punishments given to people who commit crimes without victims. Firstly, the sentence of deprivation of liberty is where someone’s freedom is taken away. For example, someone may be deprived of moving from one place to the other through house arrest, especially when the victim is under the strict supervision of crimes committed. The punishment is unfair since it may lead to the victim suffering from health problems. Every human being, whether a convict or not, needs to be allowed to move from one place to the other. The movement helps maintain a healthy body free from deadly diseases. Therefore, even if someone has been convicted of a crime, he should be allowed to move from one place to the other.

Secondly, there is a punishment of reprimand where someone is punished for doing something terrible or breaking the law. For example, someone may be reprimanded from engaging in a particular business, especially when that person fails to follow the recommended rules. The punishment is unfair since participating in a specific business is not only profitable to the owner but also to the government because it will help create employment opportunities and generate more revenue for the government. However, when one is reprimanded, there will be more job losses and less revenue collection by the government. Thirdly, ostracism is another unfair punishment where a victim of crime is excluded from a specific group or society.

Similarly, it may also refer to a scenario where a person is temporarily banished from his place of origin. The punishment is unfair since it takes away someone’s right to association with the members of his society. Every person needs a sense of self-recognition to a particular group of people, and therefore, punishment through ostracism will only lead to mental disorder.

Fourthly, the punishment of infliction of pain is another unfair punishment to a victim of crime. The penalty may be through either mental or physical torture. For example, a victim of a crime may be subjected to physical pain, especially when a person in authority needs to extract information from the victim of crime. The torture of a victim of crime does affect not only the victim’s mental health but also destroys the wellbeing of that person. Fifthly, there is an unfair punishment of incarcerations where a victim is kept in prison for an extended period. The period is so long that a person may end up being forgotten. Such punishment is unfair and needs to be scrapped. Similarly, the sentence by the death penalty is another unjust punishment where a convict is put to death by a state or government. When a victim of crime is punished by death or other sentence mentioned above, it won’t be of help to that victim or to the society at large, but instead, such people should be exposed to the rehabilitation process as mentioned below.

The solution of rehabilitation instead of punishment

Rehabilitation is a process whereby criminals or law offenders are helped to overcome the hurdles that led them to commit crimes. This includes developing job-related skills, in addition to resolving psychological issues such as aggression and drug addiction. Therefore, the best solution to helping people who have committed victimless crimes is by exposing them to the rehabilitation process instead of punishment. For example, if association by youths to other peer groups caused them to engage in criminal crimes, then diverting their association to other functional groups will help distract them from engaging in unlawful activities such as theft. Such an example is evident in the theory of unification, where someone is exposed to a group that will not only lead them in the right direction but also makes them better persons in life.

Sometimes rehabilitation is said to embrace a medical model where each individual has his mental problem. When it comes to mental health, what someone is suffering from can never be compared to what the other is suffering from. Thus, people with illness are exposed to different medical prescriptions depending on the nature of their disease and how chronic the sickness is. Correctional rehabilitation also shares the same logic where causes of crimes are uncovered, and medical attention are individualized.

Similarly, rehabilitation seeks to help both society and offenders by impacting job-related skills such as carpentry, law, education, and even nursing helps to prevent offenders from going back to crime-related activities by living a productive life. The application of this aspect may be seen to coddle offenders, but in a real sense, it does not. This is because rehabilitation focuses not only on the law offenders but also the society at large. When criminals are rehabilitated, few people will be punished, and the community will be safer. Moreover, rehabilitation instead of punishment is essential, especially when a convict has committed crime as a result of a lack of parental supervision and love. Parental guidance is essential to every child when it comes to correction, and when a child fails to get the love and support from the parent, then he may end up committing crimes. Therefore, instead of punishing such an individual, the person should be exposed to a rehabilitation process.

The health issue is also a factor that needs to be considered when convicting a crime. For instance, an individual may be suffering from a particular health problem such as brain trauma that may lead to an individual committing a criminal offense. Therefore, when it comes to health issues, the victim of a crime needs to be examined through mental rehabilitation instead of punishment since it may further lead to mental deuteriation.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, punishing people for committing a victimless crime is not the right thing to do, as mentioned above. Instead of punishing them, they should go through a rehabilitation process. Going through rehabilitation will not only help the individuals of crimes from going back to criminal activities but will also help keep the society safer. Therefore, rehabilitation of criminals is the best option as compared to punishment.