4 ms·

But are prisons primarily for rehabilitation or deterrence?If someone were to hurt or kill someone close to me, I would want him to go to prison for punishment,

But are prisons primarily for rehabilitation or deterrence?If someone were to hurt or kill someone close to me, I would want him to go to prison for punishment, if we couldn't just kill him and be done with it And this is why the justice system is about punishing people in regards to what is best for society and the community/public as a whole, not judgments based on the need for personal retribution.

gyardley 16y ago
True -- but don't forget that prisons exist as a replacement for retribution, which was often less accurate and had a tendency to escalate into open feuding between families, ethnic groups, or religious groups. If prisons aren't an adequate replacement for personal retribution, but a need for personal retribution still exists, the public will either correct the prisons or revert to their previous practices. I'm all for certain aspects of prison reform, but we mess with their role as punishment at our peril. As a side note, I suspect that the United States' use of the death penalty and comparatively poor prison conditions is largely due to its relatively recent history of vigilantism, the increased tendency of its people to distrust the government, and the relative predominance of firearms. The punishment aspect of prisons needs to be more pronounced in the United States than, say, Europe, in order to keep its citizenry content. I suspect there's also regional variations - in states where distrust of governmental authority is more predominant and vigilantism more recent and frequent, prisons are harsher and the death penalty used more.
bugsy 16y ago
The justice system is about the raw exercise of power and creating profits for Corrections Corporation of America and the like. It is supported by the population which enjoys watching people get hurt playing football or smashed up driving fast cars in races, in lieu of gladiator fights to the death. Speaking of which, in many prisons the guards stage gladiator fights* to the death between prisoners and take bets on who will win. * http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/04/06/60II/main41867.shtml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/04/06/60II/main41867.sht... http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-72442.html http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-72442.h... http://en.terra.com/latin-in-america/news/brutal_gladiator_school_prison_fight_caught_on_camera/hof12717 http://en.terra.com/latin-in-america/news/brutal_gladiator_s...

gyardley 16y ago

True -- but don't forget that prisons exist as a replacement for retribution, which was often less accurate and had a tendency to escalate into open feuding between families, ethnic groups, or religious groups. If prisons aren't an adequate replacement for personal retribution, but a need for personal retribution still exists, the public will either correct the prisons or revert to their previous practices. I'm all for certain aspects of prison reform, but we mess with their role as punishment at our peril. As a side note, I suspect that the United States' use of the death penalty and comparatively poor prison conditions is largely due to its relatively recent history of vigilantism, the increased tendency of its people to distrust the government, and the relative predominance of firearms. The punishment aspect of prisons needs to be more pronounced in the United States than, say, Europe, in order to keep its citizenry content. I suspect there's also regional variations - in states where distrust of governmental authority is more predominant and vigilantism more recent and frequent, prisons are harsher and the death penalty used more.

bugsy 16y ago

The justice system is about the raw exercise of power and creating profits for Corrections Corporation of America and the like. It is supported by the population which enjoys watching people get hurt playing football or smashed up driving fast cars in races, in lieu of gladiator fights to the death. Speaking of which, in many prisons the guards stage gladiator fights* to the death between prisoners and take bets on who will win. * http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/04/06/60II/main41867.shtml http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1999/04/06/60II/main41867.sht... http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-72442.html http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-72442.h... http://en.terra.com/latin-in-america/news/brutal_gladiator_school_prison_fight_caught_on_camera/hof12717 http://en.terra.com/latin-in-america/news/brutal_gladiator_s...