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IIRC, one of the things more strongly correlated with rehabilitation is contact with family, friends, a personal support system. Such contact should be fostere

IIRC, one of the things more strongly correlated with rehabilitation is contact with family, friends, a personal support system. Such contact should be fostered, not hindered. Even if you believe in "punishment" rather than "rehabilitation", as the purpose of prison (a pretty cynical attitude, that you should examine more thoroughly including its many implications and ramifications), what do you expect these people to do when they get out? Maybe some expense for oversight is warranted, e.g. to prevent leaders from continuing to direct criminal activity while incarcerated. I don't believe that's what's going on. (Nor, with the ridiculously priced and constrained phone calls.) It's just profiteering. And letting people -- private organizations -- make money off of prisons, just encourages more prisons. Given how "free market" many of the prominent "punishment" people seem to be, this should be obvious, even to them.

rectang 8y ago
> what do you expect these people to do when they get out? In the US: Continue to serve as villains and "others" whose suffering pleases a bloodthirsty segment of our population.
rhizome 8y ago
Even if you believe in "punishment" rather than "rehabilitation" You don't have to soften your point with this, rehabilitation hasn't been a component of US prison policy since the mid-70s.
mmirate 8y ago
> what do you expect these people to do when they get out? Two possibilities: 1. They find some legal way to sustain themselves, in which case - because society is currently biased against excons - society can easily negotiate a good bargain. (unless the excon is able to hide their past from prospective employers) 2. They do something bad again, and get caught again, and there's approximately 300-million-to-one odds that the victim of their nastiness-of-choice, isn't me. (Or more, because I don't live in downtown goddamn Chicago.) A win-win to me, it seems.

rectang 8y ago

> what do you expect these people to do when they get out? In the US: Continue to serve as villains and "others" whose suffering pleases a bloodthirsty segment of our population.

rhizome 8y ago

Even if you believe in "punishment" rather than "rehabilitation" You don't have to soften your point with this, rehabilitation hasn't been a component of US prison policy since the mid-70s.

mmirate 8y ago

> what do you expect these people to do when they get out? Two possibilities: 1. They find some legal way to sustain themselves, in which case - because society is currently biased against excons - society can easily negotiate a good bargain. (unless the excon is able to hide their past from prospective employers) 2. They do something bad again, and get caught again, and there's approximately 300-million-to-one odds that the victim of their nastiness-of-choice, isn't me. (Or more, because I don't live in downtown goddamn Chicago.) A win-win to me, it seems.