5 ms·

The max-security ones need to be kept. Some people are just bastards and can't be helped. Punishment has no effect on them - what we need is to lock them up for

by tormeh 12y ago

The max-security ones need to be kept. Some people are just bastards and can't be helped. Punishment has no effect on them - what we need is to lock them up for life. But that's maybe 5% or less of the prison population. Legalize drugs, and have a social security system that means no one has to steal and suddenly almost everyone else is out. The remainder need rehabilitation, which probably needs to happen in a prison.

candu 12y ago
> Some people are just bastards and can't be helped. I'd say that's a difficult assertion to prove in a system that provides every incentive for recidivism. In addition, how would you (or anyone else) fairly evaluate who falls into this category?
- tormeh 12y ago
  A brainscan for psychopathy would be a first step. Honestly, I would outsource that to psychologists.
  - baddox 12y ago
    As far as I know, there is no "brainscan for psycopathy." Moreover, I don't think the field of psychology has a very strong record regarding the diagnosis and treatment of prisoners.
    - lutusp 12y ago
      > Moreover, I don't think the field of psychology has a very strong record regarding the diagnosis and treatment of prisoners. Or anyone else, for that matter. Tom Widiger, who served as head of research for DSM-IV, says "There are lots of studies which show that clinicians diagnose most of their patients with one particular disorder and really don't systematically assess for other disorders. They have a bias in reference to the disorder that they are especially interested in treating and believe that most of their patients have." The reason should be obvious -- unlike medicine, psychological diagnoses rely on assessing symptoms, not the detection and treatment of causes. Psychiatrists and psychologists who serve on parole boards have a record no better than chance. When they say that a person is no longer a threat and merits release, based on their accuracy and predictive track record, they might as well flip a coin.
  - broseph 12y ago
    So basically your argument is that phrenology just wasn't advanced enough yet?
watwut 12y ago
The max-security ones are the ones that are biggest problem. They exacerbate mental problems the person had and often release people back into society unable to function normally. And no, not all the people who are locked there were repeatedly violent.
- tormeh 12y ago
  Well, my uneducated opinion is that an individual either shouldn't be in maximum security or should never be let out except when a team of psychologists says *he's good.

by tormeh 12y ago

candu 12y ago

> Some people are just bastards and can't be helped. I'd say that's a difficult assertion to prove in a system that provides every incentive for recidivism. In addition, how would you (or anyone else) fairly evaluate who falls into this category?

tormeh 12y ago
A brainscan for psychopathy would be a first step. Honestly, I would outsource that to psychologists.
- baddox 12y ago
  As far as I know, there is no "brainscan for psycopathy." Moreover, I don't think the field of psychology has a very strong record regarding the diagnosis and treatment of prisoners.
  - lutusp 12y ago
    > Moreover, I don't think the field of psychology has a very strong record regarding the diagnosis and treatment of prisoners. Or anyone else, for that matter. Tom Widiger, who served as head of research for DSM-IV, says "There are lots of studies which show that clinicians diagnose most of their patients with one particular disorder and really don't systematically assess for other disorders. They have a bias in reference to the disorder that they are especially interested in treating and believe that most of their patients have." The reason should be obvious -- unlike medicine, psychological diagnoses rely on assessing symptoms, not the detection and treatment of causes. Psychiatrists and psychologists who serve on parole boards have a record no better than chance. When they say that a person is no longer a threat and merits release, based on their accuracy and predictive track record, they might as well flip a coin.
- broseph 12y ago
  So basically your argument is that phrenology just wasn't advanced enough yet?

watwut 12y ago

The max-security ones are the ones that are biggest problem. They exacerbate mental problems the person had and often release people back into society unable to function normally. And no, not all the people who are locked there were repeatedly violent.

tormeh 12y ago
Well, my uneducated opinion is that an individual either shouldn't be in maximum security or should never be let out except when a team of psychologists says *he's good.