5 ms·
There should be two types of prisons; one for people that will be released one day and one for people that will never be released. The never-to-be-released ones
by danieltillett 10y ago
There should be two types of prisons; one for people that will be released one day and one for people that will never be released. The never-to-be-released ones can be the nastist hellholes (if the aim is punishment), but the to-be-released ones need to concentrate on making sure that the prisioners are less likely to offend again once released.
I have often thought the solution to the reoffending problem is to fill the prisioners day with heaps of novel activities so that each day is spent learning new things (doesn't really matter what as long as it is not criminal). The aim would be that by the time the prisioner has finished their sentence their old life and self will be forgotten. The human brain only has so much capacity and if you fill it with enough novelty you will overwrite all the old bad information and behaviours.
VR has the ability to make this cheap and effective.
- mmagin 10y agoThe never-to-be-released ones can be the nastist hellholes (if the aim is punishment) I object. They're still human, and as they have been deprived of their freedom, we (society) have been entrusted with caring for them. Even the death penalty (quite flawed as it is) may be better in some sense, morally, than "the nastiest hellholes".
- danieltillett 10y agoI was not arguing for making the never-to-be-released prisons hellhole, just that they are the only prisons you can inflict punishment. Punishing those people that you are going to release is stupid beyond imagination.
- paulddraper 10y ago> stupid beyond imagination I was punished. Spanking when I was younger, grounding when I was older. Without these consequences, I would be a worse adult. We may disagree about degree, but "stupid beyond imagination" is an overstatement.
- undersuit 10y agoSo what happens when you end up in the wrong prison? What happens if you spend 50 years in the hellhole and then are proven innocent? >The aim would be that by the time the prisioner has finished their sentence their old life and self will be forgotten. I know you're talking about the nice prison here, but if you hold that belief then what happens to the innocent person who has had 50 years of hell?
- danieltillett 10y agoI am not suggesting that the never-to-be-released prison should be a hellhole, just that it is the only one that can be a hellhole. Treating prisoners that you will release badly is totally stupid. Your argument is a very good one why no prison should ever be a hellhole because there are no prisoners that certain to be in the never-to-be-released category.