Punishment is no longer an effective way to stop crime

Punishment is no longer an effective way to stop crime

From being mauled by ferocious animals in the Colloseum to beheading of offenders using the guillotine and even the castration of rapists in certain countries, it seems as though punishment is an inherent aspect of society throughout the annals of history. Punishment has played an important role in human civilization by acting as a deterrent, and also to incapacitate those prone to carrying out nefarious deeds. Yet, advocates for the rights of criminals have argued that such practices are not only inhumane, but also futile and even counterintuitive in today’s modern civilisations. It is in my view that punishment still will be able to effectively stop crime, but a rethink in the types of punishments to be meted out is required. Punishment used to played an integral role in many criminal systems even till today due to the proposition that it acts as a deterrent to warn potential offenders and thus prevent future occurrences.

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It is argued that punishment is necessary to send a signal of the potential consequences that would befall those who do not abide by the rules set out by society. Yet, with greater social inequalities in the population, this means that the deterrent factor is diminished and the costs incurred from going against the law is reduced, potentially being overweighed by the potential benefits to be reaped. While the affluent grow increasingly wealthy and able to “afford” punishments such as fines or bribes that hardly make a dent in their pockets, the impoverished find it increasingly attractive or even are driven up against the wall and have no other alternatives but to commit crimes in order to survive. This means that punishment is now increasingly ineffective as it no longer matches the severity of the crime, and while some might propose for punishments to be harsher, increasing its severity would merely serve to perpetuate a vicious cycle while blinding us from looking at the broader issues facing the country that is perpetuating the crime, whether it be social inequality or otherwise.

In addition, punishment has also enabled societies to stem criminal activities by incarcerating those with the tendency to commit crime, thus incapacitating them from such malevolent behaviour. Yet, the interconnectivity of the modern world has enabled today’s criminal organisations to increase in their complexity and networking. This means that those who are caught and sentenced in the criminal system are often not the masterminds of the syndicates but instead those much further beneath the chain of command, some of which might have been coaxed or forced into committing the crime. Furthermore, the increasing income disparity also means that the impoverished are particularly easy bait for criminal organisations to take advantage of, falling prey to the insidious motives of criminal minds. This is perhaps the reason that Singapore, known for its harshest punishments, recently relaxed the Misuse of Drugs Act in Singapore, since those incarcerated are often mere drug mules and not the ringleaders responsible for the regional drug trafficking activities.

The empowerment of criminal organisations through interconnectivity and increased financial resources means that they are better able to evade laws, while those that are caught and being incarcerated are not the ones behing the perpetuation of the crime, thus rendering punishment no longer effective. What’s more is that punishment is becoming increasingly incapable of keeping up with the dynamic changes in society. The empowerment of the individual by technology has caused crimes to be increasingly surrepti………………………………………