You are clearly well-meaning, but your suggestions indicate a lack of familiarity with the mindset and behaviors of people that become chronically involved with

You are clearly well-meaning, but your suggestions indicate a lack of familiarity with the mindset and behaviors of people that become chronically involved with the criminal justice system. You are not going to teach a mindless drunk driver by indicating to them, via a state-employed official, that "someone cares about them". You're not going to convince a teenager that hurting people is wrong by having them speak to a social worker with a caseload. Children learn their moral systems from years of active and passive indoctrination into their parents' and peers' culture. If you want to reorient someone's moral compass by instilling values that no one ever taught them, and are not present in the culture in which they live outside of prison, you're going to need something a hell of a lot more potent than regular appointments with a therapist. > Crimes are sometimes a symptom of other things, not the cause. Chronic criminality is the result of moral systems that are calibrated and reinforced by violent and uncivilized cultures. This goes doubly for "rich" criminals, who display their immoral behavior through war and the stock market. Reforming a petty criminal or a serial abuser is as difficult as reforming a corporate executive taking kickbacks. They don't see a problem with it.