> Do you have any idea how quaint the idea of real rehabilitation is, at an actual prison? This seems pretty easily and cheaply fixable. Information access is

> Do you have any idea how quaint the idea of real rehabilitation is, at an actual prison? This seems pretty easily and cheaply fixable. Information access is nearly free, and all that's required is sufficient discipline and structure provided by prison staff. > removing all the bad guys and thus leaving behind only good guys doesn't work Isn't that the entire idea of the penal model? The primary purpose of imprisoning people is to keep the rest of us safe from them (incapacitation). A tiny minority of people commit most crime (especially violent crime), and imprisoning them for long terms does in fact reduce the crime rate[1]. As we seem to agree (and research supports), other interventions are ineffective on many of these people. Per my other comment[2], I think we can do this much more cheaply than we do, and with much better (or at least equivalent) outcomes. I also recommend this documentary[3], for a deeper look at the Japanese penal system. It tries to take a critical perspective, but my neck is just about sore from nodding along in agreement with Japanese practices. 1. F E Zimring, G Hawkins (1995). Incapacitation: Penal Confinement and the Restraint of Crime. 2. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39125405 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39125405 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxfh66MFKME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxfh66MFKME