Currently, the U.S. justice system does not do much in terms of rehabilitating criminals; however, this wasn’t always the case. According to the American Psychological Association, until the 1970’s the American penal system focused on rehabilitating criminals so that they could function in society. This is still the case in many societies around the world, however, like in Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway. Now, instead of focusing on rehabilitating criminals, the USA is focusing on condemning criminals, under the ruse of “getting tough on crime.” Yet, this has only had an adverse effect on crime, exacerbating crime by placing these criminals in a perpetual loophole of offenses.

Today, USA's crime rates are over the roof, and it has an incarceration rate to prove it. Presently, the US had the highest incarceration of any country, and while the US represents around 4.4 percent of the world population, we represent 22 percent of the world’s prisoners. These statistics are clearly absurd, and representative of our nation’s inadequate justice system. It is also noteworthy to mention that the incarceration rate in the U.S. has increased around 500 percent in about 30 years, which is around the time that the U.S. switched from the rehabilitation of criminals to the punishment of criminals. This evidently demonstrates a correlation between the rehabilitation of criminals and crime rates. So while the U.S. “gets tough on crime,” crime is actually increasing.

The reason for this high correlation between the rehabilitation of criminals and lower crime rates is probably due to the fact that these “rehabilitated” criminals are less likely to commit a crime after their sentence in jail. Since in the US we do not rehabilitate criminals, they tend to commit the same crime a few years later. In fact, two-thirds of criminals in the U.S. reoffend within three years of leaving jail. These statistics only prove the incompetency of the U.S. penal system, and James Gilligan, a clinical professor of psychiatry of New York University, goes as far as to say that “if any other institutions in America were as unsuccessful in achieving their ostensible purpose as our prisons are, we would shut them down tomorrow.” Indeed, the U.S. justice system is in a serious need of an overhaul so that the preposterous incarcerations rates can decrease.

The American justice system runs on the principle of revenge, and so the criminals are only inflicted with pain because it is “what they deserve.” However, we do not know the circumstances that forced that particular person to commit a crime. It has been proven time and time again that when a child or even an adult is punished and abused, the more likely they are to resort to violence. This principle also applies to criminals, as criminals tend to be more violent after being released from prison. In this New York Times article, Gilligan also states that educational provisions has been proven to time and time and time again to prevent recidivism. His statements are easily backed up by Norway’s penal system, which runs on a rehabilitation and reintegration platform. According to Jessica Benko’s article in the New York Times, unlike the U.S. that runs on a static security system, which focuses on preventing an inmate with bad intentions from carrying out those intentions, Norway runs on a dynamic security system, which prevents bad intentions from ever fomenting. This alone helps with the rehabilitation of the prisoner, as they are given some sense of trust. Prisoners are also given educational opportunities and healthcare while in jail, and they can look forward to a pension when they are released from jail; however, it does not stop there, as the jails work with other government agencies to “secure a home, a job and access to a supportive social network for each inmate before release.” This almost guarantees that the criminal will not repeat an offense because they have been rehabilitated and reintegrated in society through the education provided to them while in jail, and the job and “secure home” when outside of jail.

Not only that, but Norway also recognizes that a lot of these criminals have psychiatric problems, and many of them are required to attend therapy. This is not the case in America. According to the American Psychological Association, many criminals in the U.S. who suffer from some sort of mental illness are not given proper medical attention. Many Americans ignore the importance of mental health save some extreme case, but mental health is important, and it is definitely not a luxury.

Yet, despite the superiority of rehabilitation over punish, the U.S. still resorts to punitive measures. The sentences that these criminals in the U.S. often receive are brutal, especially when compared to similar cases in different countries. This sole fact goes against the doctrine of our country. The eight amendment states that we are protected from cruel or unusual punishments, but that is clearly not the case because many Americans today are receiving unreasonable sentences, even for minor crimes. This factor also contributes to our high incarceration rate. All these criminals are also being stripped from their right to pursue happiness, as they are not given the chance to rehabilitate and better themselves, but instead are condemned for their mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, and why is it that these criminals are not given a second chance? It is simply not fair to them. If the U.S. would just rehabilitate criminals, not only would we gain assets to our society, but we would save money from the decrease in inmates, and there would be less crime in general. However, the U.S. justice system is much more focused on punishing these criminals than actually making a difference.