There are experimental prisons that are operating in the United States today that use a method other than shoving criminals into cells and executing them at set dates. These prisons are actually more like a criminal rehabilitation center, by placing all of the inmates in one giant, expansive room, removing all individual cells. In these prisons, all of the inmates are actually given daily therapy sessions, activities to relieve tension and aggressive tendacies, and are given bumistance in job placement when the criminals are finally released.

After these experimental prisons were started, the prisoners became calmer and less agressive, compared to those who are just shoved in a small cell with little interaction between other inmates. The daily therapy sessions that the experimental prison inmates were given has had a huge impact on their lives, dramatically decreasing the chances of a return to a life of crime.

tl;dr: With proper therapy and counseling, criminals can be transformed into working members of society, thus removing the need for corporal punishment.