Prevention is always better than punishment. I wanted to ask people a while back. If you could choose only one, ONLY ONE, which would you choose. A justice system that metes out a 100% punishment, or one that only metes out 100% prevention? And let's say (since someone will bring this up) that their prevention techniques are a 100% effective at preventing crime.
If Prevention is in fact 100% effective, then Prevention it is. Prevention doesn't always been ONLY Enforcement. It involves total societal involvement. addressing economic and social inequities as well as alleviate fear of criminal activity in the general populace. Punishment alone does not address the root causes of crime or social deviance. Without education, rehabilitation, or economic opportunities, people are more likely to re-offend. This creates a cycle where prisons and punitive systems become revolving doors rather than solutions.
