Mitchy I love you bro. But I went into this in my post. I don't know how the penal system works in the UK. But I know in the U.S. if you have any sort of felony on your record and especially with today's economic climate YOU WILL NOT be able to find a job. Like murderers and rapist can rot in hell. But what I was talking about are the 17 year old kids who get 5 years for just being inside of a stolen vehicle that they don't know is stolen (it happens a lot more than you think) who will never be able to to do anything else. Most people in jail are not hardened criminals.
The most important part of the rehabilitation part of being in jail is what comes after. Just thinking about what you've done isnt going to solve the fact that you need to keep a roof over your head and earn a living and you can't get a job. And in an employers eyes assault is the same thing as murder. You can't even get a janitorial job if you've been to jail for the smallest thing.
And unfortunately most people lump all criminals into one. While in jails they separate you by the severity and class of crimes. You can ask anyone who's been to jail they don't want to go back and there are programs where people who've been to jail who talk to children and teens about the ramifications of going to jail. Jail is unpleasant no matter what way you spin it. It's not a good place to be. But people who are in jail are not animals. Some are but 90-95% aren't. I'm not being a sympathizer. I've just talked to people. Been to prisons on holidays to bring food. Taken a few Criminal Justice courses. My late grandfather was a correctional officer.
People are just misinformed about what goes on in the system and all the circumstances that arise from the system.
All this says a lot about the penal system in the States, the opposite is the case it seems over here where you don't go to prison unless you have done something really bad or have a list of previous convictions as long as your arm. The majority of people that commit smaller crimes or aided and abetted should not be in prison, i agree, they should have other means of dealing with such cases without giving them future problems.
Back in the 80's or 90's doing current events for school, I remember coming across a study or survey (can't remember which now) which implied that the biggest problem with capital punishment, and other attempts to deter crime is that criminals believe they will not get caught. I'm really not sure that the thought "I sure don't want to go back to prison" occurs to many first-time and repeat offenders. However, they simply believe they will get away with their crime. So, what difference will complete solitary confinement for the entire duration of a sentence make except make prisons even more dangerous places for corrections officers to work?
How could it possibly be more dangerous by keeping inmates apart from each other where there is no possibility of creating riots or fighting?
The idea that the average person in prison is sent purely out of greed rather than a lack of opportunity as mitchy claims is just ridiculous. If this were true, then why are prisons overwhelmingly filled with poor people? If greed was the main catalyst for crime then prisons would be filled with lawyers and health insurance workers.
And would you stop talking about prisons as though they were a "walk" instead of a "skulk?" again that makes no sense. People are raped, murdered, andforced into gangs in prison. The reason we have such a ridiculously high recidivism rate is because prisoners regardless of what crimes they did are bunched all together as though rooming a murderer with a tax cheat or pot dealer is going to produce 2 productive citizens.
The main reason prisons are full of poor people is, as offensive as it may seem, because poor people who don't want to contribute to society in the same way as others, holding down a dead end job for example to earn a living and lose most of their meager wages on bills take the 'greedy' option at the expense of others by getting involved in more profitable illegal activity. I don't buy the whole 'not having opportunities' as a justifiable reason to break the law even if it is the biggest factor in tempting people into criminality.
The part i bolded is another reason why inmates should be split up and isolated from each other.
Prisons and Inmates are a tough topic.
The truth is there is no magic bullet to solving the problem of crime and rehabilitating criminals.
mitchymo, the whole reason the vast majority of prisons exist is to rehabilitate.
There are really bad people. These people go to super-max jails and are only let out of there cells a couple of hours a day to go to a slightly larger room with a skylight.
They will never know freedom again.
These types of criminals are the vast minority. The majority of criminals are people convicted of less severe crimes. These are the people who need to be taken care of, looked after and rehabilitated.
Why? - Because they are still people like you or me.
The most important thing you can do is never give up hope on someone to improve themselves. No matter what their circumstances.
Make prisons tougher.
Remove social interaction.
Take away television.
Feed them only bread and water.
If you remove their hope for a better future what have you achieved?
You sure as hell can't hope to improve someones life by making them feel like society doesn't care about them anymore and has cast them aside as refuse.
Prisons are already places where there are murders, rapes and suicides, but by taking away the light at the end of the tunnel you become worse then the people in the cells.
Q.
I am not saying the prisons should be dark and scary places, they should be places where things like loneliness, boredom, isolation should be influence enough to make them unwelcome and an offender to think "go back there again?, no thanks"
They can be fed well, kept warm, still see family etc, still have moderate distractions such as books and conjugal visits etc, hell even tv in their own rooms but the biggest most important thing is that they do not mix with or make friends with other inmates.
The part in bold is most important. Prison is about rehabilition if you take away a persons ability to be able to be a functioning member of society all you do is making it worse. Prison isn't about reducing crime. Education and law enforcement reduces crime. Available jobs reduce crime. Less poverty reduces crime. More opportunity to get ahead to further career development and higher education reduces crime. Family involvement reduces crime.
Resentment only does harm.
This all comes back to the beginning, it was choice, these people are criminals not idiots after all, their choice to NOT be a functioning member of society. If prison is their punishment then nobody is taking away their ability unless the post prison care is absent and this brings us circle to the differences between how seemingly easy it is to be landed in jail from one country to the next.
I certainly think if an 18 yr old lad winds up inside for a no good reason then he would be much better of in a system of isolation where he cannot be led astray by other inmates and where he cannot be harmed by them etc.
