Some people think certain prisoners should be made to do unpaid community work instead of being put behind bars. To what extend do you agree?

Rehabilitating criminals is always a topic of debate, as much of society feel that the offenders should not be given a

second

chance at life.

However

, I feel it is purely dependant on the crime committed. In the course of

this

essay, I shall substantiate my reasoning. For starters, there are some cases where individuals commit a misdemeanour. In

such

cases, it is wrong to make them serve a jail sentence, and

instead

, they should be rehabilitated and made to do unpaid community service as a way to give back for the wrong that they have done.

For example

, My friend was involved in a shoplifting case in a mall in Trivandrum city, and

instead

of receiving jail time he was given six-month probation and asked to clean to streets as his penance for

this

same duration. Considering

this

was his offence, the judge decided it would be better to give him a fair warning, and by making him do the unpaid manual labour he would learn his lesson, and hopefully not repeat it, because a

second

offence of the same nature would result in him being behind bars. Alternately, there are crimes for which it is better in the public's interest that they are convicted and put behind bars. These crimes are more serious and

therefore

require stricter punishment.

For example

, in the 2012 Delhi Gang rape case, one of the accused was a juvenile, and as per law, they cannot receive the death penalty, so

instead

, he was rehabilitated and was released in 2015.

This

was not accepted by many in society, because they are afraid that he will commit

this

act again. In conclusion, the nature of the crime should be the determining factor in whether a person should receive jail time or be asked to do unpaid community service.