By Vincent Girodano
InPublicSafety.com
In the past decade there has been a growing argument made within the criminal justice community that society should move toward decriminalizing so-called “victimless crimes.” Wilson and Kelling (as cited in Cole & Gertz, 2012) argue that the move to decriminalize behavior that is often viewed as not harming anyone would actually be greatly detrimental to a community. The decriminalization of crimes like vagrancy, public drunkenness, and drug use could result in the destruction of neighborhoods because the total decriminalization of such behavior would in fact sanction such behavior. The end result of the decriminalization of disorderly behavior would appear to move counter to the principle of order maintenance.
The Role of Rehabilitation
Certainly, the move toward order maintenance, especially in terms of attempting to end disreputable behavior, can be linked to the rehabilitative ideal. Jeremy Bentham stated that through punishment the offender will find rehabilitation. So it can be assumed that through enforcing disruptive behavior via order maintenance, not only does the community benefit from getting the offender off the street, it also benefits from the offender getting treatment for their delinquent behavior.
Allen (as cited in Cole & Gertz, 2012) further holds that the rehabilitative ideal seeks to affect change in the behavior of the individual in the interest of both the individual and the community. Because of this, it could be assumed that order maintenance not only benefits the community by initially removing the offender from the community, but it also benefits the community and the individual in the long run through treating the offender in a manner so the offender will learn to not reoffend.
Read more: Is Decriminalizing Disorderly Behavior Good for Society?
