New poll of crime victims shows most favor rehabilitation over punishment
by David Atkins
Timm Herdt at the Ventura County Star highlights a new study by David Binder Research showing that despite the plethora of hard-right pro-punishment groups claiming to be “victims’ rights” organizations, it seems that most crime victims in California care more about rehabilitation than punishment:
The polling firm David Binder Research randomly called 2,600 Californians to find 500 who said they had been victims of crime in the last five years. They, too, are deserving of empathy.
Two out of three said they had been the victims of multiple crimes, and the same percentage said they experienced significant stress and anxiety that affected their work and social relationships.
But their views on criminal justice, Binder says, are “at odds with preconceived notions.”
When asked whether California should “focus more on sending people to jail and prison or more on providing supervised probation and rehabilitation programs,” they chose rehabilitation by a ratio of more than 2-to-1.
A majority of these crime victims said they believe California “sends too many people to prison” and that time spent in prison often results in criminals learning how to become better criminals.
Based on his polling, Binder came to this conclusion: “Victims want to focus on rehabilitation.”
The findings of the poll are noteworthy as policymakers evaluate the effects of the 2011 public safety realignment program that shifted about 30,000 low-level offenders from state prisons to county jails.
The United States has preposterously high rate of incarceration–higher than anywhere else in the world where records exist. That serves no one well: not society, not the taxpayer, not public safety, and not even the victims of crime themselves.
Enough is enough.
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