The fact that America locks up so many of its own, and in comparison to Western European nations, thereby represents a true outlier as to what to do constructively about crime, should be seen, therefore, not only as an embarrassment, but also a reflection that America is not nearly as freedom and liberty-loving as it claims to be.
While it could be argued, that violent crimes of all colors should necessitate the locking up of the perpetrator, it could also be argued that even in these sorts of cases, there might be viable diversion programs that would be sensible in getting to the root of the problem, but even if violence, mandates incarceration, we find that a significant amount of those so locked up, are locked up for “victimless crimes” such as substance abuse, prostitution, vagrancy, and the like. Further, there are those “white collar criminals” who are locked up and could probably be dealt with in a way and manner in which their communications are restricted and monitored, with an obligation to pay back those they have ripped off.
Basically, it has to be said, that incarceration should not be the default of how we deal with people that have committed crimes, not only because incarceration as currently structured in so many ways, does a poor job of rehabilitating or fixing what needs to be fixed, but also because of the ongoing expense that is incurred. This signifies that we ought to look at solutions that utilize the monies so devoted to the carceral state in a way that is not only more innovative but also cheaper in the funding, so needed, while also providing a better chance that the criminal will mend their ways by addressing that which will help to resolve or mitigate their situation.
Look, if this country believes the best way to deal with crime is punishment and nothing else, then it truly doesn’t need to change a thing. On the other hand, if this nation believes that it ought to at least investigate what could be done as an alternative to incarceration, then it needs to take up programs to do that very thing. Further to the point, this nation should admit that a significant amount of crime is committed by those who have come from dysfunctional families, are ill-educated, and have a dearth of opportunity to consider. This thus reflects that the structure of the society that we are all members of, should not only be studied, but that we ought to do something constructive to help those that are the most vulnerable, because those that see no future, and realistically have no future, because their skillset is suspect or completely lacking are the very same that are going to make trouble for society, and the best way to alleviate trouble is to figure out what causes it, and then do something productive about it, as opposed to locking people up, under the mistaken belief that this resolves the problem, rather than admitting that all this does is put it out of sight.