Is Therapy the New 21st Century "Punishment?"

Years ago, people were subjected to public whippings, put in stocks, or stamped with a Scarlet A if they broke the law. Maybe this was extreme but is going to the other extreme of sending people to “counseling” in order to duck responsibility really the answer? The answer seems to be “yes.” If you are disgraced and play your cards right, you may be a href=”http://www.nypost.com/seven/03212008/news/regionalnews/eliot_s_sexual_healing_102869.htm”sent to therapy rather than held fully responsible for your actions/a (via a href=”http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2008/03/shameful_sil.html”Classical Values/a):br /br /blockquoteFormer Gov. Eliot Spitzer has gone into therapy in the wake of the hooker scandal that swept him out of office, a Spitzer insider told The Post yesterday.br /br /As part of the therapy, Spitzer will explore whether he has an addiction to sex, the source said./blockquotebr /br /Don’t you just love how therapy is now being used as the new 21st century “punishment” for those who have broken the law? FWIW, I am for legalizing prostitution, but it was span style=”font-style:italic;”against the law /spanat the time Spitzer decided to partake in it–and given how he has ruined others in a similar vein, I can’t get too high on my libertarian bandwagon for him here. Anyway, it seems to me that therapy is the new punishment that people the authorities do not really want to hold totally responsible for their actions fall back on to make it look like “something” is being done. br /br /Have you taken note of the trend? If you are a politician or celebrity who has broken the law, you are subjected to–horrors!–addiction counseling. If you are a woman who commits a heinous crime such as murder, you may be able to a href=”http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/08/14/preacher.slain/index.html”spend part of your 7-month sentence /ain something as atrocious as….mental health counseling! I have even worked cases where juveniles have committed severe crimes such as carjacking and had attorneys want to send a social worker to the teen’s house for counseling rather than send them to a correctional facility. As John Stossel says, “Give me a break!” br /br /Therapy should not be used as a punishment for those who commit crimes. It should certainly be used to assist people in getting better and turning their behavior around while paying for their crimes, but it is not a substitute for being held responsible for one’s actions.