RE: Motorcycle Travel Series by @velimir 'The Prison Restaurant' (Part #208)
Nice one. Still on Prison topic. I am enjoying the ride :)
I love topics that expose where the government got things wrong and how things are treated unfairly and neglected. Just like some of your previous posts.
I must say that i am shocked that inmates work there. You dont get to see such in prisons around my part of the world.
I agree with you on the purpose of prison. The main purpose of imprisonment in a humane society is reformation of the criminal, the second is deterrence to other would-be criminals and only thirdly the (temporary) removal from society of a threat.
Infact here in my country, there is this argument that they can't reoffend while they're in prison, and that this therefore protects victims. This is palpable rubbish. Unless you're going to imprison people indefinitely for minor offences, they have to be released eventually. By failing to reduce the reoffending rate, you're only deferring the victims to a later date, and increasing their number.
This is from personal experience and i have a some knowledge on psychology
There are two types of criminals in the world. Those who have been caught and punished, and the rest.
In the group we label as "criminals" (those who have been caught, convicted, and punished) there are two groups:
The Mentally Abnormal and the Normal Everyday Citizen
The mentally abnormal person can be described as having an illness which leads him to commit crimes of violence against other people. These are the real problem criminals in our society and civilization as a whole.
They are a danger to our families and friends, our peace, and our well being.
The normal everyday citizens are just that. People who are essentially good, and pose no real threat to others, but can be led astray by their upbringing, their friends, associates, or dire circumstances.
These people make mistakes, and when they are caught up in their mistake, we treat them the same way we treat the mentally abnormal criminals. Since we treat them this way, they must be one and the same, right? Wrong.
The normal everyday person can be rehabilitated, and reintegrated into society, I am not sure that is the case with the mentally abnormal. Psychotic individuals are rarely able to change; it is a physical abnormality (though maybe hard to pinpoint where in the brain the fault lies) not a psychological one. My apologies @velimir that i am not talking about other parts of this exceptional post.:)
But i love this blog because i like to learn more.
I have a question for us here. I wish we could interact more.
If prison does not work what should you do with criminals? Since you support that they should be released after sometime :)
Exceptional topic here. I apologise for the long comment. Its just that i am passionate about injustice and its relations. :)
You have made a lot of sense her @georgechuks. @velimir. I enjoyed the post. Its a great one. And the topic is really crucial only if our government could look deeply into it.
To answer you question, there are other alternatives being employed to better effect in other countries. One option is to give first time offenders substantial custodial sentences for relatively minor offence, with almost all of it being suspended. The criminal serves a very short period, perhaps only a couple of weeks, in fairly harsh conditions. This can usually be served without disrupting employment, earning capability etc, which is a significant factor in reoffending. It also makes the offender aware of whats in store in the event of reoffending. In tandem, community based programmes involving victim awareness, causes of offending behaviour etc would help to identify, and hopefully reduce, the risk that the deterrent is ineffective in and of itself. In countries where this kind of approach is adopted, reoffending rates are significantly lower than in the UK, and fewer people are in prison. I believe Italy, for example, suspends all first time custodial sentences, except in the case of violent or sexual crimes.
I hope i answered your question. Thank you @velimir for providing the room for this interaction
Thanks for the helpful reply.
I think that we really have it backwards on this issue. We are missing a huge opportunity. We are warehousing people, punishing them and returning them to our society worse off than when we got them. I think our goal should be ultimately to help turn people's lives around -- but we are not treating our prisoners that way right now. There is a reason why America has incarceration rates that are seven times higher than our European allies and murder rates that are ten times higher. We are putting people in prison, many times, for non-violent crimes and turning them out more violent and dangerous than when they went in.
Interesting point @nancy7819 I wasn't aware of this. Maybe our civilization becomes human, after all :)
I like your poste thanks
@georgechuks You said it all, buddy! :) No apologies of any kind are needed. To the contrary, thank you! :)