關於罪犯處置：入獄服刑 vs. 社會服務？

(https://www.numbeo.com/crime/rankings_by_country.jsp)

According to the Crime Index 2021 conducted by NUMBEO, Taiwan is ranked as the penultimate just before Qatar among 135 countries. This chart represents that there is very little crime around the island. Yet, some people argue that random killing spree, sexual assault, and Internet fraud seems to be increasing in recent years. Hence, it is suggested that the best solution is life imprisonment or even the death penalty. Others encourage community service as the alternative way to tackle crime. In my opinion, it depends on the classification of crimes. There is not the only one solution in decreasing the number of lawbreaking actions.

In Asian society, the first philosophical concept has been communicated from the ancient times, “People are inherently good.” Many firmly believe that never lose faith in humanity. They urge that criminals can be educated by undertaking community service. In addition, another argument put forward is that the government would waste money on prisons management. Continuous investment includes personnel, infrastructure, administration fee of justice, equipment maintenance, food, beverage, and accommodation for criminals. Considering the huge government budget involved, corruption and scandal might arise, such as bribery, sexual abuse, violence, and drugs distribution. Therefore, community service is an effective method in minimizing criminal activity, hence by gathering criminals together is not helpful to modify their behaviors. Many prisoners are released from jails and commit the same crimes again. However, while criminals contribute to community welfare, on one hand, it benefits the social service system which would have more manpower to work with. On the other hand, offenders could learn a different lifestyle apart from criminal activities.

The use of prisons can be traced back to the rise of the state as a form of social organization in both eastern and western world from the ancient times based on Wikipedia. It seems that prisons have worked to solve the social problems that have ascended from criminal activities. Some argue that people are inherently evil. With strict punishment in accordance with law and order, people would learn the consequences of committing a crime. Take Covid 19 for example, despite the Taiwanese government requires everyone to wear a mask at all times, unless at home during level 3 of the pandemic control, some people still reject to follow and even attack store clerks, policemen, or pedestrians. This action is definitely a threat to the society in relation to the statistics of NPI (Non-pharmaceutical intervention, epidemiology, please see the below chart). Wearing a mask is only a simple action but people cannot not obey the rule, not to mention for those serious crimes.

Moreover, imprisonment can act as a school for education, skills training, and religious belief. This is especially true for those prisoners who have longer jail sentences, a better opportunity to change their improper beliefs and violent behaviors. Some jails cooperate with local industries and prisoners can be employed as manpower to accelerate the productivity. With the lower birth rate, it benefits the domestic economy.

In conclusion, it is critical to study the root cause of crimes and develop corresponding measures or policies to cope with the related issues, such as poverty, education, or mental problems. Next, law and order should be developed and renewed by keeping up with the current times. Generations’ mindset and the environment would be different from the old days. Punishment methods could also be designed and executed depending on which approach is suitable to effectively decrease repeated offenders and crime rates. Finally, I feel the question should be how to build a better and safer society instead of one way ‘prisons’ or another ‘community service’.