The debate of the effectiveness of criminal justice system in deterrence of crime has received a number of attentions from different scholars that included activists, law professors, attorneys, etc. Some scholars share the same subscription but for entirely different reasons and arguments while other different in the whole context. John N Gallo in his article Effectiveness of law enforcement Techniques for reducing crime strongly criticizes the systems for its ineffectiveness in rehabilitating criminals after the arrests. Similarly, Don Weatherburn, in his article, Arresting incarceration; pathways out of indigenous imprisonment, names the structure as the main cause why there is a vicious cycle of indigenous imprisonment where one individual is likely to spend his lifetime from one jail to another due to high crime occurrence rate.
Despite their agreement on the ineffectiveness of the criminal system justice, the scholars use different approaches to finding the root source of the high recidivism rates. They test different hypothesis in explaining the parameters that affect the efficiency of legal structures. In addition, the two authors use different evidence and different data collection mechanism to evaluate a positivistic conclusion in support of each hypothesis.
Gallon focuses his critiques to the structures enacted in rehabilitating the criminals in a manner supposed to make them social equals to other citizens with no criminal record. He depicts this ineffectiveness of the structure as the main cause of the high rates of criminal re-occurrence. For instance, he argues that, due to the inefficiency of rehabilitation centers, a criminal is likely to commit the same crime even after ten years of imprisonment. He took a research of recidivism in US, and the results showed that there is a 27% possibility that a criminal released from prison will get into a police cell before the first year of their release. He pointed at poor policies and poor implementation as the core reason of this trend.
Similarly, Gallo criticized the severe punishment policies as a source of indigenous criminals in our society. In a different research, Gallo noticed that severe punishments were not always effective in rehabilitating prisoners. He used psychoanalysis among other theories to show how a criminal changes his perception towards the law and society after undergoing a severe treatment. This traumatizing experience of the prisoner ruins all his chances of ever recovering and leading a normal life.
Gallo used a chain methodology to show the co-relation of his parameters where the structures were depicted or failed. He argued that, when criminal is imprisoned, the structures either fail to rehabilitate him if he stays in for a short while but frustrates him so much if he stays for a long period. His debate was focused on how the structure affects the criminal consequently affecting his perception of law and order society.
However, Unlike Gallon, who depicted the criminal justice systems as having failed, Don blamed the social systems as the main cause of crime recidivism. He focused his debate on how the societies have attached prison with crime instead of prison with rehabilitation.
Don argued that the society has projected a prison, as a one-way traffic where when one goes in he can never come out. He uses this metaphor to explain how ex-criminals experience a difficult times after their term in prison following the society’s prejudgment. According to him research I Australia; Don noticed that the majority of persons with criminal records slide back to crime due to the discrimination from the free society. He arguably states that, if the criminal justice systems believed in its systems, then it would believe in the efficiency of rehabilitation, which would lead to the abolishment of Good Conduct certificates. He denotes that. “The key priorities in relation to reducing Indigenous substance abuse are: a more efficient system for allocating treatment and law enforcement resources to areas of highest need.” (Bodman, 1997). Research showed that most ex-convicts find difficulty in finding employment or in finding rental houses in regions where a certificate of good conduct is a necessity in recruitment or booking. In addition, they receive a negative mentality from the rest of the society and are perceived as dangerous. Don also criticizes some court recommendation of public/community parole where a community looks after an individual for a given period before his name can be cleared. He describes these situations as demising, ironical, and detrimental to the victim.
He used the theory of the social divide to explain how detrimental such a process is to an individual. When an inmate is put under community observance there exists polarity in the community with the community on the majority and the criminal at the minority. The basis for the social divide is the wrong and the righteous where the community attachés wrong to the victim as he attaches righteous to the community. Consequently, the individual becomes deviant, acts a non-member of the community, and probably practices vices in a bid to avenge his position. In the end, the individual remain in the opposite polarity of the community where he feels concerned about his well-being instead of the greater good of the community.
Gallon criticizes the structures for failing and frustrating the criminals. On the contrary, Don blames the community for under estimating the possibility of rehabilitation in prisons. Don explains that the detrimental consequences which the society brings upon itself for pre-judging the ex-convicts while Gallon explain the negative consequences felt by the society as a result of ineffective rehabilitation structure.
Both authors use strong evidence to build on their argument about the main cause of recidivism in the criminal justice systems. Despite their different approach, their argument is build around the thesis of ineffectiveness of the criminal systems. However, Gallon focuses his argument of the critique of the system while don focuses on the possible solutions to this cycle. He summarizes his article by noting that, “In my summary, my experience has been that law-enforcement has had an impact in deterring and/ or reducing criminal activity.” (Gallo, 1998).
