Some students prefer to do group projects. Other students prefer to do individual projects. Which kind of projects do you think produce more learning and why? v.1

Imprisonment has been a popular and traditional method to fight crimes for centuries, but recently it has been challenged by the fact that this method does not work in some cases. While many people are persuaded that disciplining criminals through education and training is a better alternative to reduce crimes, I disagree with this sentiment to a certain degree. I believe that prison, at some points, still has an important role in the criminal justice system. In this essay, I will give some arguments to support my ideas. There are two reasons why I partly concur with the statement that sending outlaws to jail still provides several benefits to the common people. First and foremost, some individuals are born violent who cannot redeem themselves merely through studying and thus should be removed from their normal lives to avoid further harm. In the history of criminal profiling and criminology, criminologists have discovered a consistent pattern summarized from many cases of real-life serial killers. This pattern showed that many infamous serial killers, such as Monte Rissell or Ed Kemper, were sent to mental institutions for educating purpose and successfully convinced their counselors that they were getting well. As a result, these dangerous criminals were released back to society and went on a murder spree, reported committing more crimes. They only stopped killing people when being incarcerated for life sentences in correctional facilities. Moreover, many victims or families' victims do not believe that the offenders deserve redemption, so they would seek vengeance on their own with brutal methods which would create endless vendettas. Conversely, it must be said that the aforementioned arguments do not apply to every situation. Firstly, incarceration is not suitable for all types of criminal offences, especially juvenile crimes or those who do not receive a life sentence. Being isolated from the community for a while with no academic certificates or proper professions, by the time the offenders are released from prison, they are no longer qualified to work and discriminated against by other people in their community due to their shady past, despite still being at their working age. Consequently, these offenders will struggle to reintegrate back into society and are easily tempted to go back to commit illegal acts. According to statistics, over 75% of released prisoners are rearrested within five years of being released from the criminal justice system. A better solution, in this case, would be to train and educate criminals, rather than locking them behind bars. Furthermore, establishing educational programs for criminals without arresting them will prevent the disruption of the economic system, reduce the loss of the employment market and create more opportunities for these kinds of people to right their wrongs and finally become a productive person in their communities. In conclusion, the question about the efficiency of imprisonment and pedagogy as a better alternative is contentious with no easy answers. To my mind, the confinement of unlawful individuals gives a lot of benefits in reducing outlawed activities and ensuring the safety of each citizen. In the end, imprisonment is still the most effective way to deal with criminals and satisfy the victims’ desire for retribution under the authority of the state. But the states should try to introduce new ways to fight crimes such as education and training to achieve better results, instead of relying too much on the incarceration, which still has flaws.