Law and Order. A key component in keeping society stable and living, putting order in place of chaos. In most countries the usual procedure of punishment for breaking the law is confinement into a prison. Rehabilatation is applied through the use of group discussions, therapy sessions and an edcuation system all form inside the confiment behind bars. But...Does it really work? Locking someone up to let them think what they've done, is it working? I wish to go into a career of psychology and hopefully rehabilitate criminals into modern society. Now, what i'd like to know is if anyone thinks if it actually works, all the stuff inside prison, is it really working?
Works occassionally I think. Depends on the statistics, but I don't know them. I personally don't think they do (Here in America anyway) How many people who get out of prison end up back in? How many people still do crimes while in prison? (murder/rape other prisoners, still managing to ruin people's lives while "contained")
Maybe when going to prison and being locked up was actually a punishment it worked, but now it seems more like an easy life. It is fact that some people deliberately get themselves put inside because it is easier than living on the outside. My cousin got arrested and sent to prison (for stealing a lorry and crashing it into a lake @_@ ) and he said that they had the latest games consoles, TV's, they could do academic courses and it was basically just like staying away somewhere except you weren't allowed outside the grounds. Also, look at the number of people being released and then re-offending. There is no sense of fear anymore, and without the fear of the consequences it is making the entire system a joke. I think that if those in charge stopped making prison such an easy life and actually punished those who are guilty that it would be a lot more effective. Also, instead of spending tax payers money on PS3s for inmates, maybe they should go back to using said inmates as a labour force. Too many bleeding hearts of society want to wrap them up in cotton wool, it needs to stop. If you do the crime then you better be prepared to face the consequences. If the system has a hope of working then it needs to change, and fast.
THIS. I say, go back to locking prisoners (especially murderers, rapists, and repeat offenders) in small, concrete cells with a metal bed, a toilet, a small slit of a window, and a food slot. Let em out into a yard for maybe an hour a day, just to try to help them maintain some sense of humanity, feed them, and that's it. Make prison something to be feared again, and maybe less people will get into it. Heavily supervised time will stop most in-prison crimes, lack of cell-mates will help stop abuse and give them plenty of time to think, and bad food, boredom, and lack of sleep will stop them from coming back. Harsh? Yes. But, then again, they lost most of their rights when they violated those of others. The system worked for centuries. It'll work now. (Especially because we'll be depriving them of most modern conveniences which they can no longer do without comfortably.)
Yeah, i saw a special on TV about prison. It's ridiculous. They let them watch TV, be on the internet, they even give them instruments and let them make bands. That **** needs to stop. The more serious crimes should consist of round-the-clock solitary confinement. No one to rape, no one to beat, no one to yell at. They shouldn't even have a bed.
Exactly! Well, maybe a bed, but not a damn king sized bed with a mattress that I envy. My junior year, our guidance counselor had us do a session where we make back up plans for life after school in case our Plan A's fall through. One kid said if he ever lost his job, was still single, had no income, and lost hope, he'd rob a bank and purposely get caught. Now? I would do the same. But I'd research different prisons first...
^This Some people actually have a better time in prison than they do outside. It completely defeats the purpose. And law-abiders have to pay for their luxuries after they've committed whatever crime. I understand how it's supposed to be humane, but the current system is ridiculous. I can't understand how today's prisons are supposed to punish or reform convicts when I don't think I'd mind going to jail myself. Hey, free living. Additionally, the concept of life imprisonment is lost on me. If there is no chance for the person to get out into society again, and they're going to spend the rest of their probably pretty long life in jail living the same day after day... I'm not saying "Rah rah death penalty kill all criminals", but humans really need to be harsher with people who commit atrocities. It's the only way some people learn, and we shouldn't be afraid to, well, clean up society. (Kira was righteous B|)
I think that sometimes it works and other times, it fails because there has to be a different approach done for some criminals. I think we need better rehabilitation assistance for people who do get out of prison and there are certain people that should -never- be released and just be coined as lifers. There are too many times where someone gets in prison and gets out on good behavior or because some religious wackos justify that they have 'converted' someone to their religion so they are 'changed'. Pedos are going to be pedos whether people like it or not. They don't need to be out in society. They need psychiatric help and to be away from kids altogether. Rapists can repeat the offenses, murderers can repeat the offenses. How we deal with psychopaths in particular needs to be addressed as they do not respond the same to a person that does an act out of emotional reaction (i.e. a person who commits a crime based on a severe emotional trauma). Anyone that goes to prison, I think needs psychiatric help to determine what kind of profile they have so that they can be seen if they can be readjusted to society or not. People on drug charges of 'possession' can likely change to me more than someone who is a rapist or murderer or pedo. Even some murderers can change depending on the reason the crime was committed in the first place. Also, law and order applies to civil suit matters too such as malpractice and negligence. These cases, so long as fair and balanced, can change things and come out alright. The law works when it watches out for both the criminal accused and the people who will suffer if said criminal gets out and goes back to the life that got them in trouble in the first place. It does not work when it protects too much one side over another. Also, I am not really a fan of the death penalty that is in some states because I do not believe innocent people should ever die and it is better to just have people be lifers rather than make a mistake that can never be compensated for. Some people want their revenge but that is not what law is totally about. So, I'd say in closing that the law works a good portion of the time but until certain things are remedied, it will not work -most- of the time and probably even then, it cannot work all of the time. We can only do the best we can and as we learn of more mental conditions etc, I think the stronger law can be when we do get involved and ensure people's safety and well being.
