November 2018 LSAT Section 3 Question 16

The meaning of the phrase "forward looking" (last sentence of passage A) as it is used in passage A is most closely r...

kbernard on August 6, 2020

Why not E?

I was pretty stuck between D and E. I thought because E is talking about retributive backlash it relates to how a criminal may re-offend in the future. I understand why D is correct, but I couldn't explain why E is wrong.

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shunhe on August 6, 2020

Hi @kbernard,

Thanks for the question! So remember, rehabilitation and the “retributive backlash” are two separate concepts here. Even if you don’t know anything about the background, we’re told that rehabilitation happened until the mid-twentieth century, and the retributive backlash happened in the 1970s and 1980s. So what was it backlashing against? The period of rehabilitation. So these are two opposed things. And if you think about the meaning of the words, you might also realize that. Rehabilitation likely has to do with rehabilitating people (like a “rehab” center), while a retributive backlash would likely focus on a retributivist approach, or one that’s focused on making sure that people “get their due” (or face retribution).

So what is “forward looking” referring to, which one of these two movements? Well, the forward looking approach is one that’s supposed to get rid of blameworthiness (line 24). But the retributive approach is all about assigning blame and then making sure that you’re punished in proportion to your blame. So it can’t be referring to the retributive backlash; instead, “forward looking” refers to the rehabilitationist approach.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.