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The title derives from a single quote of someone that claims prisoners in Germany are not put in prison as punishment, but only to protect the public. But that

The title derives from a single quote of someone that claims prisoners in Germany are not put in prison as punishment, but only to protect the public. But that is simply not true: punishment most certainly is a goal of accusers and most prisoners certainly feel punished by being locked up, so that goal is at least partially achieved. The major difference is that the government does not consider it the main goal and other goals, such as rehabilitation, are given more weight than in the US.

rbehrends 11y ago
The claim is entirely true (§2 StVollzG [1]), but you may be misunderstanding something here. The rehabilitation of offenders and the protection of the public are indeed the sole two permissible objectives of incarceration in Germany. But there is a difference between (1) the imposition of prison sentences and (2) how they are being carried out. Judges may take other factors into account to determine the severity of a sentence, but once imposed, rehabilitation of offenders and protection of the public are the only two goals that the process of carrying out the sentence may serve. [1] http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stvollzg/englisch_stvollzg.html#p0013 http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stvollzg/englisch... (and yes, the translation of the section title is ... imperfect).
- Confusion 11y ago
  Punishment is not an official goal of the government. Nevertheless, in practice it certainly is a goal, as required by the people the government represents. Punishment is a goal of many victims and of people who believe punishment discourages crime. When the perpetrator is brought to justice, the victims-turned-accusers will demand punishment. It is the goal of the government to represent their interests. It partially does this by setting up the prison system as it is and imposing prison sentences. If dealing out punishment, as wished by the victims, was not an indirect goal contributing to the way things are, prisons would be more comfortable. The circumstances in prisons, their austerity and severity, cannot be explained except by wanting to punish the people in there. They are not optimally suited for only rehabilitation and protection of the public. This is of course entirely understandable.

rbehrends 11y ago

The claim is entirely true (§2 StVollzG [1]), but you may be misunderstanding something here. The rehabilitation of offenders and the protection of the public are indeed the sole two permissible objectives of incarceration in Germany. But there is a difference between (1) the imposition of prison sentences and (2) how they are being carried out. Judges may take other factors into account to determine the severity of a sentence, but once imposed, rehabilitation of offenders and protection of the public are the only two goals that the process of carrying out the sentence may serve. [1] http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stvollzg/englisch_stvollzg.html#p0013 http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_stvollzg/englisch... (and yes, the translation of the section title is ... imperfect).

Confusion 11y ago
Punishment is not an official goal of the government. Nevertheless, in practice it certainly is a goal, as required by the people the government represents. Punishment is a goal of many victims and of people who believe punishment discourages crime. When the perpetrator is brought to justice, the victims-turned-accusers will demand punishment. It is the goal of the government to represent their interests. It partially does this by setting up the prison system as it is and imposing prison sentences. If dealing out punishment, as wished by the victims, was not an indirect goal contributing to the way things are, prisons would be more comfortable. The circumstances in prisons, their austerity and severity, cannot be explained except by wanting to punish the people in there. They are not optimally suited for only rehabilitation and protection of the public. This is of course entirely understandable.