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Originally Posted by Ace_O_Spades
Unfortunately BigBen, the statistics have shown that convicts given community sentences recidivate less than convicts given the same sentence in prison. I'm at school right now but I can dig up the source when I get home...
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Couldn't that just mean that those criminals that get prison sentences are generally worse than those that don't? Currently, the more severe the crime the higher likelyhood of incarceration. It would be similar to saying that because more people die during surgery in hospitals than in doctors offices, surgery shouldn't be done in hospitals.
I personally think that prisons should be more like prisons, and less like daycamps. There should be no amenities, no entertainment. It might be inhumane, but so are the crimes these people are convicted of.
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Originally Posted by raveneye
The U.S. federal prison system essentially destroys people, then sets them free. I have seen this first hand many times. It is desperately, desperately in need of fundamental reform. I think it's great that you Ace are on top of this and concerned.
I don't know what the answers are, but at the very least it needs to be radically changed to focus on positive rehabilitation, and basic human dignity. Most of the people in there have identifiable psychological issues, usually expressed as addictions, that can be treated. The prison experience only exacerbates these problems, and creates new ones on top.
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These people aren't troubled children in need of hugs, they are dangerous and/or socially maladjusted adults who need to be taught to live with rules. They gave up their right to dignity when they committed a crime severe enough to warrant a stay in prison. There are some criminals who could use rehabilitation, but they do not generally commit the types of crimes that land you in a prison as opposed to a jail.
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This September will begin my brother-in-law's 30th year in Leavenworth. He was rehabilitated probably 25 years ago, is no threat to anybody anymore, and is kept in purely for punishment. It's cruel and pointless. I can't fathom how any human being can survive psychologically in a max security prison for 30 years, trying to maintain one's basic dignity and self-respect.
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How can you prove he has been rehabilitated? Honestly, I personally feel safer keeping someone who could warrant that kind of heavy sentence locked up. These people don't deserve dignity and self-respect, they are criminals who have committed heinous crimes.