Is prison the best punishment for all offenders? ?

Question

Hi, I am doing a dissertation next year on prisons, i just wanted to get a feel on what people thought of this topic.

With the recent interest about overcrowding in prisons I want to write a dissertation on whether prison is the best punishment for all offenders. I believe that prison is the best punishment for violent and sexual offenders however I'm not sure about petty criminals, there maybe better ways of punishing these offenders rather than prison.

Also prison may not be the best punishment for petty criminals as by being in prison they could be educated in to more serious crimes meaning that the chances of the re offending may be high.

Would love your opinions

Thanks

Answer 1

I spent time in care and went to borstal twice in the 70's.  If you want to remove people from society to stop them offending then lock them up; however, if you want to rehabilitate (change) some offenders then punishment doesn't cut it for the majority in my opinion.  In my opinion, (and generalising) there is a common theme amongst the majority of offenders.  They are usually immature, childlike, undeveloped in their attitudes and thinking.  People who have undeveloped thinking skills, who steal because they do not genuinely 'think' better; who do not profoundly get it that it is in their best interests to live a more honest existence, are not rehabilitated by punishment.  With imprisonment they remain confused, poorly directed/motivated individuals who now feel an added sense of shame, anger and hopelessness.

I personally favour a near zero tolerance and mandatory imprisonment for crimes of violence on other people, even just putting a hand on a police officer should be a no no.  I would even consider a dose of corporeal punishment for people who hurt others, rather than imprisonment.  But I wouldn't imprison for theft with no violence.  However, in a capitalist society the people who make and pass the laws don't have to walk home late at night on a rundown council estate and their priorities seem to be for crimes against property, which does affect them.

Answer 2

I think we have to have a complete overhaul of the justice system.  It cannot be right that someone put in prison for not having a TV licence is sharing a cell or even a prison with a convicted drug dealer/rapist/murderer. It is a mad system when you are more likely to go to prison for non-payment of a fine than if you committed a violent offence!  I don't think we need more prisons but have to look at who we are putting into them.  There should be one prison for the Myra Hindleys/Rose Wests/Ian Brady's of this world which is well away from civilisation and when they went in they would know they were coming out in a body bag.  

For those who are in for non payment of a TV licence, for example, to put these people in prison - and maximum security at that, for longer than someone who has committed a violent offence is madness!  

Answer 3

Prison is never the best answer, but is still very necessary.

A lot of prisons have improved their standards with the reason being that they want to move toward being a rehabilitation centre.. which is great for individual cases, and might solve the prisoner's problem and help them to get a job etc.. BUT if they went all the way, and prisons were known to be too cushy, the number of offenders would escalate and they would become overcrowded (even more so), making the crime rate soar and the whole system would collapse.

I do, however, believe in the proposed boot camp for antisocial behaviour, and believe that for some, albeit very few, cases, an alternative might be the answer.. but the main reason for prisons is to punish, not to keep them off the street or to improve their habits.

Answer 4

A crook is a crook is a crook, they should all be punished to fit the crimes they have committed,

there should be set penalty's for all crimes with very small concessions for judges interpretations not having prison places doesn't wash they are not incarcerated to enjoy themselves,punish them first and if they show remorse educate them after they have served 3/4 of their sentence, make them think twice about return visits,

don't let bleeding hearts and miscarriages of Justice rule, Barry George is as innocent as Bradey and should have been hanged with the same rope, but a few ******* will cry freedom and some stupid ar-e will let them out and pay them six figures for their trouble,

Angry man you sound like you should know about the affects prisons have on prisoners, but like most lefties, you lean to the side of the offender not the victim, i don't really care if the offenders and their mouth pieces don't like it,Me and mine sleep  safer in our beds knowing that these people are behind bars

Answer 5

I agree with you absolutely. I think it's time we became more sophisticated in our approach to dealing with criminals. It seems that if it's not being done now that profiles of types of criminals should be drawn up and a plan of punishment/treatment with the goals. The objective would be to find a cost effective way to deal with society's needs of deterring bad behavior and keeping the public safe. There should be different punishments for different crimes since all crimes are not equal. If our system is treating all criminals the same then it is doing a serious disservice to society and the safety of people. It is also increasing the costs to society. (This is just my opinion based on what I know, which admittedly isn't much.)

edit: I realize and recognize the complexity of this problem when you start to analyze it.

Answer 6

Dissertation project about prison that is good. In my own opinion, prison is the best punishment but not all offenders esp. young and minor children, because they will have fear and revolt feelings toward society. Violent and sexual offenders yes definitely prison is the best punishment but for those young children a more humane rehabilitation house is much more good than prison for these young offender.

Answer 7

Nearly all crimes are different-its very rare that exactly the same circumstances apply to each occasion. I am not a "do gooder" and there are some occasions when punishment is warranted. However I do not believe that it is right or even sensible to treat all offenses in a category the same-(i.e. twelve months for assault, three months for driving without a license and so on) If you can lead the person who commits the crime not to want to do it that is infinitely better than a costly programme that involves, police, medical experts and warders. So ultimately it is better to "educate" the transgressor. There are some categories where the public want revenge on the law breaker. I am not saying this is good because the same principal applies but having brought up children i know that you get much better results with rewards than punishment. The rate of recidivism by criminals in Britain is very sad. There are other countries (Scandanavia for instance) where they are not imbued with the British attitude of "flog 'em and send them down" that have much better results. Human nature being what it is there are always going to be occasions when even the most perfect person is going to do something wrong at some time or another. If they don't they really are a saint-and there are not many of those about. If you crack down hard on somebody as an example to others you run the risk of making that person much worse than they already were.

Answer 8

I got out of jail last week. i was only in 6 weeks and when i was in some women got out and came back in in that space of time. I think as long as the courts are giving out silly little sentences like 3,4,5 months people will just keep going back in. In that space of time they don't even have time to finish withdrawing from drugs let alone do any sort of education. Maybe jail is a good idea if the sentences are long enough. As far as I was aware, the only punishment jail is meant to be is your loss of freedom. You have a tv in your pad, 3 meals a day and no money worries. For some people they have a better life in there than they do on outside the gate.

If you need any info on womens jails please feel free to contact me.

Hope this helps

Tracey x*x

Answer 9

prison is a joke..they get three square meals a day, medical treatment, and can watch tv and talk on the phone..what the c**p they need to bring the chain gang back...

Answer 10

As someone who has served some total of 5-6yrs in various prisons I've come to the conclusion that some folk deserve it and a large number do not.The number of guys with mental health issues in our jails is disgraceful, the 'care in the community' fall out. Also in my experience the huge number of people with drug/ alcohol addictions left un-treated defies belief. The setting up of secure substance abuse treatment centres would be far more effective but of course it is all about £'s. The violent and s*x offenders however need to be locked up. But addicts?, well there's a lot of drugs in our prisons no change!

Answer 11

If you are writing a dissertation on whether "prison is the best punishment", then you'll have to consider;

1) What role does punishment serve as a judicial response to crime

2) What responsibilities do the government and the judiciary have with regards to crime

3) Does punishment and/or prison do anything to reduce the instance of crime

4) What are the moral/ethical/legal issues relating to the imposition of  state sanctioned punishments

and many, many more issues - it's a huge topic.

So my answer to your question would be, why only look at punishment? and what is the frame of reference by which you determine what "best" means?

The only clear answer I can offer is that prison for all offenders cannot be successful, as no 'one size fits all' system is going to work. Look up "bifurcation of sentencing" for a discussion on why this is the case. Even if you determine that prison is only for violent and sexual offenders each case is individual, where do you draw the line? There are many violent and sexual offences where prison would not be appropriate.

Sorry for answering a question with a question, but I think there's a great deal to think about here.

Regards

Answer 12

Prison is not the answer to everything. My honey is in prison right now for his second DUI and prison won't help him he needs rehab or AA. Prison will only make life harder for him when he comes home (ie. jobs) most likely will resulting in his drinking out of frustration. I even wrote a letter to the judge requesting rehab instead of prison and he had his hands tied due to the mandatory minimums in AZ. So thanks alot now a man that had a chance at a good life will now be set back even further!!

Answer 13

NO. I think drug abusers need treatment not jail because in jail they usually continue to get high. It would also save the taxpayers lots of money too.

Answer 14

I don't care whether it's the best punishment or not, I just want them locked up so that they can't commit further crimes against decent hard working families. Think of the victim first.

Answer 15

I think Death is perfect for, rape, molesters. and murderers, along with 3rd strike criminals. The rest should be put into a desert tent, hard labor camp.

Answer 16

I still think prisons are best for all types of offenders, they are only overcrowded because of what they can get away with while they are in there, such as drugs, mobile phones etc being smuggled in and the good meals they have and all the entertainment, prison is meant to be a punishment not a long holiday. Get rid of the soft approach and bring back hard labour and hanging for the paedos, muderers etc the prison overcrowding will soon be sorted out.

Answer 17

No because once you go to prison that is held against you when it comes to jobs and it makes life harder when you can't get a decent job. People make mistakes and I know you have to be punished but prison isn't usually a good idea unless someone has done really bad stuff.

Answer 18

No, I don't think that prison is the best punishment for all offenders. The recidivism rates indicate such.

Answer 19

no paedos should have their eyes cut out their bits and hands cut off and then be thrown onto a desert island and left to die that would stop the overcrowding because of the sheer numbers of paedos they let out

Answer 20

no i think prisons are Victorian out of date idea. in 21st century we need modern approach to handle criminals. maybe like find out why do they commit the crime and then find solution. for example if crack addict steals stuff to sell it so he can buy more crack should we not  try to help him with his addiction instead off sending him behind bars?government just don't wont to spend money on improving peoples lives instead they using cheap solution and every body's will agree that crime  in uk is high and all those criminal keep re ofending. we should offer them brighter future with better quality of life and more help that what i say because i believe every human is good deep down they just got bit f***ed lives.

Answer 21

I defend prisoners for in prison crimes at Salinas Valley State Prison and Soledad State Prison.  Both of these facilities are in California.  SVSP is a level 4 prison, the highest security, and Soledad is a partial 2/3 facility with a level 1 fire camp attached, the lowest level.

All of my cases come from SVSP or Soledad level 3, the fire camp is peaceful.  All my cases are attacks on guards or other prisoners.  Some are riots, all involve prisoner manufactured weapons with serious injury.   All my clients are heavily tattooed gang members, usually Norteno, Southern Mexican or Fresno Bulldog affiliation.  I have had one 18th Street gang member.  All the attacks are unprovoked and seemingly planned.

While I represent these people, they occasionally get transferred around to other prisons, Corcoran, High Desert, Kern 2 and various others.  All my clients are violent offenders, usually assault with a deadly weapon, murder, attempted murder, rape, etc., while being a gang member.  All the prisons they get transferred to seem to contain the same type of population as SVSP.

While working in Salinas, I have seen very, very few people get sentenced to prison for drug offenses.  The only times it has happened has been when a defendant has violent priors, like strikes, or is caught with an enormous amount of meth.  Even prisoners who are caught with pounds of crystal, they only go to prison for a couple years tops, which means they will be classified as a level 1 or 2 minimum security risk.  These drug offenders will get programs and have a lower possibility of getting hurt inside.  90% of the people I see go to prison for an extended stay are violent/sexual offenders or offenders with violent/sexual histories.

I know that the federal courts are tougher on drugs and more likely to send people to prison for drug offenses, but the federal courts process only a fraction of the crime in the U.S.  I know that some counties are also tougher than Salinas in terms of drug sentencing, but not many.  This leads me to believe that Salinas, a very tough place, is a pretty good example for what generates the majority prison population and SVSP is an example of what the rising prison population is all about.  Oh, Kern 1, Kern 2, SVSP, Corcoran, High Desert - all of these facilities were built since 1988, most in the 1990s or even later, all of these are level 3 or 4 high security prisons.

I always heard a great deal about the swelling prison population in California, both before and after I started practicing criminal law.  I always heard statistics about non-violent drug offenses and prison but I have never actually seen statistics I could study.  In my experience, I have seen no evidence that the California prison population is made up of largely non-violent drug offenses.  Again, where a guy goes to prison for drugs, it's usually because of a variety of violent priors.

Before everyone here gets up on a high horse and starts talking about petty criminals and non-violent drug offenders, I think it might be a good idea to look at some real numbers.  Pure petty criminal, pure drug offender, fine.  But don't count a petty criminal as a petty criminal if he has priors for rape or shooting at an inhabited dwelling.  

If it is true then that prisons are filled with violent criminals and gang members, as has been my experience, then we need to move on from the discussion of "better ways of punishment" and "finding out why they commit crimes."  From what I have seen, how people behave, our society is pretty far gone and certainly well beyond any touchy-feely solution.  Just my thoughts.

Answer 22

We need more old-style prisons where the prisoners stay in underground dungeons in poor lighting, have rat vomit for food, with severe hygiene problems and overcrowding to teach people a lesson.

We need 20+ storey prisons which harbour thousands of criminals in poor conditions and not like in the current conditions where they have access to fresh air, light, food, space, entertainment, TV's, games and human contact.

Prison is a punishment not a holiday.