Some people think that the best way to reduce crime is to give longer prison sentences. Others, however, believe there are better alternative ways of reducing crime. Discuss both views and give your opinion

Crime is a challenge for the majority of countries and societies. Many strategies have been adopted to reduce misconduct rates throughout history. But most of them have not been successful to diminish offences. Turning point approaches have demonstrated better results and in my perspective, they are an alternative to models that have failed.

This

essay discusses both perspectives. On one hand, crimes are meant to be coped with through the violent enforcement of the law.

Therefore

, many believe that incarcerating offenders is the only way to deal with the root causes of disturbance.

For example

, in some states, the life sentence and death penalty are advocated as the capital solutions for some social issues.

Consequently

, a vicious circle is established and apparently there is no way out to overcome

such

endless cycle that crowds prison and turns them into a very profitable business - particularly in those regions where jails are privatized.

On the other hand

, many experts support that restorative justice measures must be implemented in prisons to break

such

a vicious cycle. Once these approaches are based on an integrated perspective of how a variety of factors combined, violence and misdeed are understood as consequences of unsolved familiar, educational or social traumas, difficulties and related issues. As shown by many examples, Scandinavian countries have been adopting humanized and restorative sentences to rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders to society.

Thus

, in these countries, jails are getting emptier and crime rates have been declining. To sum up, I believe that historical backgrounds, justice and educational systems and other social services must

also

be taken into account so that sentences can be applied in a way that human rights can be observed and offenders could have a

second

chance to rebuild their life.