Sometimes I wonder if that is actually a problem with our justice system. We deal justice in cold blood, calmly, burocratically, often months after the act. (An

Sometimes I wonder if that is actually a problem with our justice system. We deal justice in cold blood, calmly, burocratically, often months after the act. (And OTOH also without possibility of negotiation or mercy.) I wonder if it wouldn't be better to deal punishments out immediately, and in anger rather than calmly. I'm not suggesting this, just playing devil's advocate, but maybe bring back corporal punishment. From a behaviorist or evolutionary psychology standpoint, it would seem that we are more predisposed to learn from a swift, "personal" punishment, than from a delayed, unpersonal punishment. I remember reading about a case study in a region where the central goverment collapsed, and there was effectively no police and no prisons. People went to a justice system very loosely based on local traditions. The punishment for most wrongdoings would be that people showed up and rough-handled you and beat you up, taking some compensation from you as they saw fit. There was always someone watching the punishment to ensure that it didn't go to far. It sounds quite brutal, but the thing I remember was that the rate of repeat offenders was among the lowest every measured (although I wonder how good you could measure that in a "failed state"). For the life of me I can't find this story anymore though. Again, I'm not suggesting anything like that, so please don't downvote if you disagree with corporal punishment. I think it's interesting to contemplate the choices we have made in our justice system and their effectiveness, though.