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Rehabilitation and restitution

Rehabilitation is a term which means to restore someone to a normal crime-free life. Restitution means to restore something that has been lost, or to compensate someone for something. These are the modern attitudes to punishment.

Prison, community service, fines and court orders all aim to rehabilitate offenders and prevent them from reoffending. Victims are more often compensated for crimes, and convicted criminals are given community service which aims to compensate the local community through helpful work.

Attitudes to prison

By the start of the 20th century, attitudes towards prisons began to change. Increasingly prisons were seen as a punishment in themselves. The loss of liberty when in prison was enough of a punishment.

People began to see that the flogging, isolation and silence used in the 19th century were not working and should be abandoned.

This change in attitude led to improvements in prisons, eg prisoners could wear their own clothes. Prison food was improved, and more education courses were made available inside prisons. These aimed to rehabilitate prisoners and give them skills to allow them to find useful employment after their release.

After 1945, the rising crime rate has led to a massive increase in the prison population. This has led to overcrowding and, at times, lack of access to education and courses.

There has been some change in attitudes in modern times. Some people feel that prison is not enough of a deterrent for committing crimes and that the system needs reforming.