Shame or Guilt

According to the provision of the legal institution, there is a specific moral challenge when it comes to punishment. It is because most of the times the state seems to be intentionally harsh, burdensome when in punishing criminals. However, it is typical of the society to imprison people, force them to pay fee sanctions, engage them in community service and even executing them. These methods provides us with a moral challenge as whether it is right to make criminals go through such methods in the name of punishment. The traditional society justifies these methods because their premise bases consequentialist and retributivist view (Kahan 574). According to consequentialists, punishment is necessary in the bid to secure valuables and reduce crime by stopping, holding and reforming offender. On the contrary, Retributivism provides that punishment is necessary because it is a response to wrongdoing. However, there are critics who believe that none of the accounts has any justification to it. On a variety of grounds, they are trying to find other methods that are workable as well as humane in case of dealing with crime. The abolitionists argue that the defenses for punishing criminals are far from being satisfactory. In addition, the practices are morally questionable. As such, the main question for the abolitionist is how else the society should address issues to do with wrong doing. This research paper analyzes how to tackle punishment.

According to Jane Tangney’s, “Condemn the Crime, Not the Person”, the book highlights the need to explore other ways in which to punish wrong doers rather than putting them in jail for life. According to her, putting offenders in jail is just about shaming them and making them feels like criminals and this does little to change their behavior. In fact, such humiliation births more aggression because of the disapproval. Shame makes people believe that their situation is irreversible and hence, seek other ways to overcome it. While there is a section of prisoners that try to reform, others concentrate on finding ways of acting defensive. Shaming prisoners diminishes corrective understand that they are guilty of their actions. Shame does not make one feel better and is not likely to improve in their behavior. Behaviors as opposed to guilt, which makes one, feel bad. Therefore, the main goal in corrective justice is to make the prisoners make amends of their wrongs rather than subjecting them to shame. According to Tangney, the community service sentences made to fit the nature of the crime are the most workable as opposed to other forms of punishment. Take, for example, careless drivers can be put in road accidents sites or help in campaigns that address careless driving and such. However, there are some who believe that community service has an alternative to prison. They believe that the offender put in community service are not likely to behave any better. Moreover, sentencing criminals to community service work tarnishes the nobleness of volunteer activities.

In Dan Kahan’s article, Shame is Worth a Try, believes that this method is cheap, effeicient and appropriate as opposed to Jail sentences. However, he supports that fact that every crime should be punishable. For small, non-violent crime, Kahan provides that shaming is effective because it is more personal (Kahan 574).  Therefore, it is best to ask ourselves the most workable means of fostering negative constructive feelings of shame among the offender.  One method includes forcing the offenders to think about the negative consequences of their behaviors and how their offenses affect other innocent people (Kahan 573). This approach depends on the moral stand of the individuals perpetuating the crimes. For example, stealing from a jewelry store negatively affects others. It is important to make them understand that crimes are selfish because the offenders do not care the effects it has on others. Take, for instance, when some sexually assaults the other, they fail to consider the fact that it will affect their victim for the rest of their lives and they should have shame for their actions.

Condemn the Crime, Not the Person” by Jane Tangent is all about correction rather than subjecting offenders to jail life. Punishing people for their offenses is most likely to make the defensive rather than motivate them to correct their crimes. Jail makes people feel shameful as such, the best approach is to try and make the offenders feel guilty for their wrong doings. The critics of restorative models point out that some crimes do not necessarily warrant for serving sentences. Such actions only make the offender vengeful as opposed to correcting them. As a result, when most finish their sentences, they tend to exhibit vengeful behaviors towards other in society. It is important to understand the main idea behind correction is rehabilitate the offenders so that they become better people in the society. However, if the approach is harsh, it will only lead to aggression. While punishment for crime is critical for fair justice, it is also essential that we look for the most workable methods that will not lead to further aggression. The idea should be to correct, not to revenge.

Works Cited

Kahan, Dan M. “Shame Is Worth a Try.” Short Essays for Composition (2007): 574.

Tangney, June. “Condemn the Crime, Not the Person.” Short Essays for Composition (2001): 569.