The American prison system has long touted the principle of deterrence, that crime can be controlled by giving very harsh sentences to those caught, hoping that future crimes will be avoided because a potential perpetrator he sees and fears what the potential punishment might be for carrying out such an act. The idea that punishing a single person will prevent others from committing a crime is a key argument in support of our system of crime and punishment. This article will focus on this currently failing policy of deterrence, examining its true nature, and then discuss its place, if any, that it holds in our law enforcement system. To fully understand the scope and nature of the problems associated with deterrence, it is necessary to understand some facts about deterrence itself. Many people often confuse deterrence with punishment or retribution, but this is not the case. Instead of serving your “debt to society” for a crime you committed, under the principle of deterrence you are serving your punishment to prevent you and your neighbors from committing the same crime. Operating under the deterrence model requires two main assumptions: that the imposition of a severe punishment will deter someone from committing crimes in the future and, second, that the fear of this punishment will prevent future crimes perpetrated by others. (Wright, 2010) A very important idea here is that this is a “hard” punishment, a punishment that others will not forget. There are many flaws in this argument, the biggest of which is the amount of faith placed in humanity. First of all, the deterrence model is based on the rationality of people. It is assumed that all adult human beings are capable and consider the consequences of their actions. It doesn't take... half the paper... as people have been prosecuted. If an inmate can improve himself while incarcerated, he is more likely to succeed once released and not end up back in prison. (Parenti, 2008) Deterrence, in its current form, is useless and counterintuitive. Not only does it fail to stop crime, it encourages it by sending low-level offenders to what is essentially a crime school. Deterrence relies on two mechanisms to work: people seeing others arrested and turning away from crime fearing the same, and giving long sentences to people who get caught so it can seem even scarier. It has become a necessity to eliminate long sentences for the sake of deterrence itself. Through education, both in the community and during incarceration, extraordinary things can be accomplished and we can expect to have a more just, logical and helpful correctional system.