Do u think some criminal offense is better off using community service rather th

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   peter565posted 6 years ago

   Do u think some criminal offense is better off using community service rather then prison?
   
   While some people conduct crime due to bad intention, others might conduct crime due to been desperate. There are some violent crime or those that could really hurt people, such as armed robbery, drug dealing, which should not be committed even when people are that desperate, but then there are cases such as theft or shop lifting, which if for example, a homeless guy, who have not eat in five days, it is more understandable. In these situations, instead of sending them in prison, do you think it is better to get them to redeem them self via community service?

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   Lindsay Bloomposted 6 years ago

   Well, you actually have two questions here:
   1. Is community service better for some crimes than prison?
   2. Would community service rehabilitate some criminals better than prison?
   
   Community service costs taxpayers a lot less than prison. It's easier on the person who committed the crime, too, because he doesn't have to endure the hell being imprisoned and it won't look as bad on his record when he looks for a job, housing, etc. So where a person is not a threat to society, I think community service is a much better solution than prison.
   
   Would community service be better at making someone more willing to abide by the law than prison? It could be better, depending on the crime and the person's reasons for committing it. I wouldn't use the example of a homeless person who hadn't eaten in several days, because if stealing food is the only way he can survive, no amount of community service is going to keep him from trying to survive when he's starving.
   
   What about someone who is convicted of selling drugs? Maybe by making the person do community service working with long-term addicts who are dying from drug abuse would change his mind. But for most pushers, the fear of prison might be more of a deterrant.
   
   Community service might benefit people who commit hate crimes, by forcing them to get involved with the group they hate and raise their consciousness.
   
   What about someone convicted of too much drunk driving? What kind of community service would convince him to not get behind the wheel when he's drunk - and maybe to control his drinking?

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      peter565posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, I started thinking about this, when I am reading and at ancient China, community or military service, frequently replace prison, they did many harsh labors including digging water way to prevent flood, repairing great wall of China etc.

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