A stigma that never fades



Your thoughts?

Although it's a very complicated issue, it really is all based around one simple fact. The system does nothing to help people. I think this is quite clear when looking at the number of repeat offenders. A problem like that is only going to grow larger, hence the increasing rate of incarceration.

i don't know instead of a longer punishment i think more sever keep in mind that i know because a lot of family members in jail =:)

anybody heard "prison song" by System of a Down?

a lot of people are in prison because of drug offences and things of that sort. The US could really reduce a lot of their numbers by fucking off with the whole "War on Drugs."

What do people think about that? i know its kind of a touchy subject.. soo..

anywho, just listen to Prison Song, or at least read the lyrics if you dont like SOAD.



???

The only thing jail does is make people better criminals. And the statistics I believe even reflect this. Especially considering you're putting petty criminals in with the hard cases...

As for snoogins comment about more severe penalties... they have the death penalty, you can't get more severe than that. And then there's the "3 strike" rule... there are more severe punishments than ever, there are more people being executed than ever, and there are more people than ever in jail currently. So that's obviously not working.

The main problem with jail is if you put people away and pretty much leave them to their own devices... nothing else happens other than the build up of resentment against the system and society etc. Then after people get out of jail, they've lost X years out of their life, they have nothing to show for it, they find it hard to get employment as nearly nobody will want to hire an ex-con, so the only alternative is to go back to what they know... crime.

I don't know what the statistics on rehabilitation are, and of course that opens up lots of debates as well... things like 'why would you give inmates access to job training and education when there are more than enough free citizens out there that don't have those options', and also where do you draw the line... is it worth rehabilitating someone that's inside with life without the possibility of parole? And of course the cost of the entire endeavour.

One of the other things that you need to look at as a society is why all these people are going to jail. These people are a product of the environment they live in to a large extent. Barring certain exceptions, you're not born to be a thief, murderer or rapist, you're bred that way usually.

But, of course people don't really want to deal with the fact that there are problems within society that are causing these people to exist. As long as they can shove the blame onto someone or something else, they will. Society at large needs to face up to the big ugly truth that something really stinks about the system. And then you need people with the balls to actually do something to change it, not just pander to public opinion with publicity campaigns like "the war on <insert cause of the moment>" and avoid the real issues.

Lilith - tired and rambly and writing the rant before reading the article

The only thing I can really add after reading it is that most definitely the gun availibility/legality in this country has a lot to account for when you look at the crime statistics compared to other countries which are much tougher on that.

I think that is certainly a problem with the prison system. Now I don't know the statistics ( what they are in jail for, marijuana? cocaine? heroine? ) but I still think the U.S has to rethink it's drug policies. At least that could possibly free up funding to go to other more useful things.

Yes, like spend billions extra on military spending so they can run around and start attacking nations like Iraq.

Lilith

So, incaceration simply provokes further crimes. The death sentence is both neither intimidating enough, yet stirs up storms of pressure group opposition every time it is used. Perhaps, then a more novel and effective approach?
Frontal Lobotomies? Debate rages over their effectiveness, such as is said here and could provoke more rights movement violence.

Perhaps mood-altering drugs, such as referred to here, but consider it could refer to convicts as much as children.
Again, it would incite storms of protest against this blatant disregard of a person's rights to live without being altered. But when that person is persistently breaking the law, and altering other peoples lives through pain and death, perhaps they need it?

Gasp, does Araknyd advocate a definite breach of human rights? Maybe. I'm sick and tired of having to toe the line set by nazi-democratic civil rights protestors, and a government restrained by the shackles of so-called democracy. England has prison over-crowding on a hideous scale too, and unless drastic measures are taken, this situation will boil over horrendously. Already, the government is attempting to staunch the flow of prisoners into the system with such measures as this, no doubt releasing thousands of hardened criminals straight onto our streets. A definitive and effective method has to be used to ensure these people do not immediately re-offend, get returned to prison and leave our government looking foolish again.

Sory if this offended anyone.

While the prison system is obviously not effective enough, if the penalty side is the only thing you look at you're approaching the problem ass backwards. Something in society is creating the oppertunities for criminals, and in the cases of some the necessity for some to turn to crime... those are the issues you need to address if you really want to cut back on the amount of criminals.



Well, this is where release programs and skill training etc. would help to an extent... create oppertunities for ex-cons to actually better their situation instead of send them on their way as they were when they got in to exactly the same place and situation they were in which got them in jail in the first place.

Lilith