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Fundamentally, prison is about preventing prisoners from committing additional crimes against the populace. We can talk about retribution and rehabilitation but
by Sevii 4y ago
Fundamentally, prison is about preventing prisoners from committing additional crimes against the populace. We can talk about retribution and rehabilitation but those are justifications for why we used x method instead of y method. Prior to the 20th century we couldn't afford to keep people in prison for a long time so criminals were simply executed. Now that we can afford to keep them alive in prison we lean towards life sentences for heinous crimes.
Choosing long prison sentences instead of executions has externalities. One of which is that now street gangs owe fealty to prison gangs.
People don't go to prison to be rehabilitated and never will. Prison is solely to keep convicted criminals far away from normal people. If rehabilitation is going to happen it not going to be at prisons.
- feet 4y agoMaybe you should read about the penal system in Nordic countries
- _trampeltier 4y agoIn every counrty, exept the US, criminals mostly come out of a prison as a better person. In no other country a prison is just to lock people away. In the US a prisoner is just a kind of perpetum mobile, a unlimited money machine.
- namlem 4y ago"Every country except the US" is a weird way of saying "a handful of rich countries". The US prison system is exceptional for its size, but not for its low quality.
- gambiting 4y ago>>People don't go to prison to be rehabilitated and never will Yeah that's complete nonsense and we have lots of data that proves otherwise. US is really a massive outlier there amongst developed countries.