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

Crime figures have risen in an alarming rate for the last decades. While some people assert that the sole way to cope with this problem is establishing stricter rules as well as harsh punishment for the law offenders, I contend that there are much more alternative measures could be taken to reduce and prevent this unwanted trend in the society.

It is true that the stricter the punishment is, the more deterrent it would be for the criminals who tend to violate the rules. However, this policy does not always work if the other aspects of incurring criminal activities are not pondered. For instance, in spite of the harsh punishment for drug dealing in certain countries like Afghanistan, the number of traffickers and smugglers are still increasing in an apprehensive way. This simply occurs because of the fact that there is no other legal opportunity for majority of people to sustain their lives. As a consequence, they would rather to accept all the risks of this bloody business and even capital punishment sentence just to be capable of supporting their families. This vicious cycle would tend to continue unless the unemployment and economic issues would be addressed by the government.

Moreover, there would be more benefit for societies to focus more attention on crime prevention rather than imposing stricter rules or building new incarceration facilities. Admittedly, it is crucial to encourage young people to abide by the law and inform them about the serious ramification of offending the rules. This way, the society would lead to more stable situation as well as the number of law-abiding individuals would increase. As a result, the capital cost of coping with crime would reduce which would be in the best interest of all members of the society.

To sum up, it is true that imposing stricter punishment is likely to lead reducing the number of crimes. Nevertheless, there are more effective measures that can be taken into account with the aim of crime prevention.