3 ms·

Raise the Crime Rate

14 points by joejohnson 15y ago

drewda 15y ago
By chance, I just received my copy of n + 1 in the mail earlier this week. To those who appreciate a thoughtful mix of intellectual pieces, I'd definitely recommend subscribing: http://shop.nplusonemag.com/collections/subscriptions http://shop.nplusonemag.com/collections/subscriptions It's especially useful to those Bay Area residents like myself who can use a dose of literary snark imported from Brooklyn to counterbalance the homegrown cheer of the McSweeney's mini-empire.
- rdl 15y ago
  I had them in my RSS reader for a long time, but I think in the past 3-4 issues, they've really gone downhill. I admit I'm pretty far from them on the political spectrum, but I appreciate rigorous research and data when arguing. Part of the problem is that I confuse it with H+ magazine (which is basically the polar opposite in view). It might just be that I'm getting old and crotechty; my former favorite magazine (Foreign Affairs, from CFR) is falling prey to the same thing -- http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136917/matthew-kroenig/time-to-attack-iran http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136917/matthew-kroeni... was inane enough to make me cancel my subscription)
neworbit 15y ago
Maybe I'm a grumpy old codger these days, but it seems like the thesis is "increased incarceration has lowered the crime rate outside of prisons, however inmate-on-inmate violence is appalling, therefore we should reduce incarceration". My knee-jerk reaction is "we have improved the first order problem of lower crime in society in general, creating the second-order problem where those inclined towards assault and rape are confined with others of similar mindset and continue this pattern of crime therein... shouldn't we look to preserve the desired result and simultaneously improve law and order within prisons?" Agreed in advance that a phenomenal rate of incarceration is not the only means of reducing crime (or, as the thesis would have it, of shifting it into the inmate population) - but I'd find it hard to buy that we should turn our back on a working solution without a better one. As the article points out, 70% of released prisoners are rearrested within three years - we are largely not rehabilitating the prison population today, and fixing that would be the means I'd advocate - which would seem to also have the effect of lowering inmate-on-inmate assaults, rapes, and other violence. I'm a bit at a loss as to why the answer would instead be a vast reduction in prison sentences (without some other substantive change making this viable)...

14 points by joejohnson 15y ago

By chance, I just received my copy of n + 1 in the mail earlier this week. To those who appreciate a thoughtful mix of intellectual pieces, I'd definitely recommend subscribing: http://shop.nplusonemag.com/collections/subscriptions http://shop.nplusonemag.com/collections/subscriptions It's especially useful to those Bay Area residents like myself who can use a dose of literary snark imported from Brooklyn to counterbalance the homegrown cheer of the McSweeney's mini-empire.

rdl 15y ago
I had them in my RSS reader for a long time, but I think in the past 3-4 issues, they've really gone downhill. I admit I'm pretty far from them on the political spectrum, but I appreciate rigorous research and data when arguing. Part of the problem is that I confuse it with H+ magazine (which is basically the polar opposite in view). It might just be that I'm getting old and crotechty; my former favorite magazine (Foreign Affairs, from CFR) is falling prey to the same thing -- http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136917/matthew-kroenig/time-to-attack-iran http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/136917/matthew-kroeni... was inane enough to make me cancel my subscription)

neworbit 15y ago

Maybe I'm a grumpy old codger these days, but it seems like the thesis is "increased incarceration has lowered the crime rate outside of prisons, however inmate-on-inmate violence is appalling, therefore we should reduce incarceration". My knee-jerk reaction is "we have improved the first order problem of lower crime in society in general, creating the second-order problem where those inclined towards assault and rape are confined with others of similar mindset and continue this pattern of crime therein... shouldn't we look to preserve the desired result and simultaneously improve law and order within prisons?" Agreed in advance that a phenomenal rate of incarceration is not the only means of reducing crime (or, as the thesis would have it, of shifting it into the inmate population) - but I'd find it hard to buy that we should turn our back on a working solution without a better one. As the article points out, 70% of released prisoners are rearrested within three years - we are largely not rehabilitating the prison population today, and fixing that would be the means I'd advocate - which would seem to also have the effect of lowering inmate-on-inmate assaults, rapes, and other violence. I'm a bit at a loss as to why the answer would instead be a vast reduction in prison sentences (without some other substantive change making this viable)...