Is prison a good form of punishment?

[Nick]

Simple question that isn't at all easy to explain for some people. Is prison a good form of punishment?

While it's a nice place to keep all the troublesome folk in our society, a large portion of those who spend time in prison tend to return there again. It leads some to believe that prison is a waste of money, especially when prisons tend to become overpopulated and those with harsh convictions tend to be released on parole. Additionally, how do you feel about bail money?

 

[Nihilego]

I think separation from society, through a prison sentence, has the potential to set people straight pretty well. But the issue I constantly hear, in this country anyway, is that prison is too nice a place to be. It sounds odd, but I know people who have been in prison and from what they've described they're reasonably well cared for and have all they need to live comfortably. It's almost difficult to differentiate it from a boarding school at times, lol. And when you've even heard reports of the homeless deliberately committing crimes to get hot meals and a comfortable bed in prison, you've got to wonder what's happening here.

tl;dr, prison? Yes. Prison as it is now? No. It has to be a more genuinely unpleasant place.

...of course, this is only from what I've heard in my country. It'd be interesting to hear about the differences in others. I've been told that some US prisons can get very nasty.

 

[Rogue planet]

Prison only enforces the route of criminal behaviour. Put a criminal in a confined space with a ton of other criminals, where their behaviour is heavily restricted (likely to only increase a rebellious attitude) and they receive little to no therapy; yes they're bound to go further down the path of a delinquent.

The problem is, there aren't really many realistic alternatives. We can't afford to offer extensive therapy to every criminal there is, and a good proportion of criminals are beyond therapy. The fact is, some people are just destined to be criminal; and we have to isolate them for the sake of society, it is a sad truth that we can't do better for them, but for the sake of the majority, we have to get rid of them.

To add a simple opinion to your last question; bail money is a stupid joke.

But the issue I constantly hear, in this country anyway, is that prison is too nice a place to be. It sounds odd, but I know people who have been in prison and from what they've described they're reasonably well cared for and have all they need to live comfortably.

I've heard the same thing I strongly believe this is a misconception. Have you known anyone who was a serious criminal in prison, or someone who served a long sentence? Also, there is a difference between prison and jail, people often don't distinguish between the two. If you're an incredibly minor offender, then yes you have it relatively easy. But otherwise prison is not a nice place to be in at all.
Of course it affects everyone differently. If you're used to living in **** conditions, it might not be a very serious issue for you and you can deal with it. For people who aren't used to living in such a place it can be an incredibly traumatic and life-altering experience.

 

[Blade_of_darkness]

Let me just say that I believe that once a person becomes a criminal, they're always a criminal until they're either dead or sentenced to death.

I really don't believe that prison is a really good form of punishment, unless they actually receive the proper therapy, which in my country, most of them don't. Even if they do receive therapy, some of them are beyond help, & thus I feel that they should be condemned to death.

Nevertheless, I'm a strong supporter of the death penalty, & believe that anyone who commits a crime should get it. Depending on the severity of their offense, their death could come either quickly & painlessly, or really slow & horrible for the worst of the worst.

 

[Alex]

I personally don't believe prisons are a good form a punishment. While for some criminals, if they're a threat to society, separating them from that society is definitely a good idea. But if you're sticking a whole bunch of criminals together in one confined area, who will no doubt talk about how they got incarcerated, they're only going to fine-tune their skills. All of them look forward to getting out and probably just replay what it is that got them caught in their heads. Chances are they're gonna try again just to prove to themselves they can do it without getting caught.

We should instead try to reform criminals. Locking them up and throwing away the key won't do them any good, if anything it'd make them more bitter against society. Get to the root of the problem and try to prevent it from happening again. Focus on the person's thought process. Instead of cold, heartless jail wardens, these people need sensitive psychotherapy.

 

[Mr. X]

If they were truly isolated, it would be effective. But as it is now, it's not. They still interact with other people, who share their ideals of crime or might be even worse then they are. Not good. At all. All prison is is pretty much 'X years here worth' of beating the dog. And when the dog gets out? It's going to be pissed. Big time.

Semi unrelated, but I'd like to see prisons become the main source of blood donations. You have large groups of people locked up, not contributing to society at all, and are locked up for crimes that most likely harmed other people in some way. Making them donate blood would give them some worth to a society and, depending on what religious beliefs you have, atonement for the lives that they harmed with their actions.

 

[femtrooper]

I believe they are a good form of punishment to some extent...I think they need to find newer ways of deterring people because seriously, prison isn't and either is capital punishment. I think rehabilitation is a good way to help those who did something bad.

 

[Gamzee]

The main focus should be rehabilitation, not just locking them up and putting them on the back of our mind. As is we focus too much on punishment and not rehabilitating the offenders.

Committing a severe enough crime (stealing a lot of money, murder, etc.) is like saying "I don't wish to be a cooperative member of society". It's unfortunate that we can't simply exile these individuals which would be my preferred solution.

The death penalty is a pretty bad as well. For one, it costs more money to put a criminal to death than it does to give them life in prison. Secondly about 11% of death row inmates are innocent and innocent people have been murdered by the state before. Finally, and this is more of a philosophical viewpoint, but "good" and "bad" are purely subjective things and no one is truly right or wrong. By saying "The punishment for killing someone is being killed" is both hypocritical and unethical.

 

[Happy Azumarill]

killing someone for murder is damn right wrong. life also known as 27 years should be enough for murrders, the death sentence should be taken away because the guilt lies with the person doing it. if you want to help society, give a murderer a gun and tell him to shoot him self, you won't have the guilt because he did himself.

 

[Mr. X]

killing someone for murder is damn right wrong. life also known as 27 years should be enough for murrders, the death sentence should be taken away because the guilt lies with the person doing it. if you want to help society, give a murderer a gun and tell him to shoot him self, you won't have the guilt because he did himself.

Great idea. Lets give a murderer a lethal weapon and hope he uses it to off himself, instead of using it to kill more people and/or escape (Which is what will most likely happen.)

Great idea. If you foolishly believe the best in everyone, even those who have proven that they have little to no good in them at all.

Also, what if he survives the attempt? It's happened before. Google James Vance Failed Suicide. (Somewhat disturbing. He tried blowing his head off with a shotgun. He failed.)

My idea is better. If he's a murderer sentenced to death, don't give him a gun and tell him to kill himself. Take em to the hospital, and remove all transplantable organs and use them in life-saving transplants. He will die, but at least then his death accomplishes much more then your 'make him off himself.' idea.

 

[Sydian]

if you want to help society, give a murderer a gun and tell him to shoot him self, you won't have the guilt because he did himself.

You wouldn't feel guilty that you gave him the means, and orders, to do so?

 

[Charlie Kelly]

I tend to think the "eye for an eye" route would work best for most crimes. Thieves are stolen from, rapists are raped, murderers are killed... seems a lot more fitting than locking everyone up in a building somewhere and paying for their food and shelter.

Though I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to something like the movie "Death Race," either. That has potential.

But no, I don't think prison is a good form of punishment.

 

[xelarator]

I think that prison is NOT a good punishment, providing that you want someone to stop doing something.

If you send someone to prison due to murder , It'll be on their pemanent record.If it says that he/she has beeen in prison on their permanent record, they'll have no life. If they have no life, when the person gets OUT of prison, he's gonna kill someone again. You don't want someone to die. Or to be you, your family, friends, etc.

I think sending the guy/girl to a pyschiatrist [sorry if I spelled it wrong] would be better. Ever heard of something called the Seven Deadly Sins?

I didn't think so.

Wrath (Latin, ira), also known as "rage", may be described as inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger. Wrath, in its purest form, presents with self-destructiveness, violence, and hate that may provoke feuds that can go on for centuries. Wrath may persist long after the person who did another a grievous wrong is dead. Feelings of anger can manifest in different ways, including impatience, revenge, and vigilantism.- via Wikipedia[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Deadly_Sins]

Revenge, Vigilantism, Payback. Isn't that what prison is? Just because someone killed someone doesn't give you the right to kill him/her, whether it is or isn't allowed by the law. Even if you don't belive in God, these things don't feel right.

Just forgive then help the guy/gal for crying out loud.

 

[Controversial?]

Nevertheless, I'm a strong supporter of the death penalty, & believe that anyone who commits a crime should get it. Depending on the severity of their offense, their death could come either quickly & painlessly, or really slow & horrible for the worst of the worst.

I've committed quite a few crimes, to be honest.
You saying I should be put to death?

 

[Spinor]

Let me just say that I believe that once a person becomes a criminal, they're always a criminal until they're either dead or sentenced to death.

I really don't believe that prison is a really good form of punishment, unless they actually receive the proper therapy, which in my country, most of them don't. Even if they do receive therapy, some of them are beyond help, & thus I feel that they should be condemned to death.

Nevertheless, I'm a strong supporter of the death penalty, & believe that anyone who commits a crime should get it. Depending on the severity of their offense, their death could come either quickly & painlessly, or really slow & horrible for the worst of the worst.

Now that's a very interesting point of view. I'm going to say that your point of view is absolutely irrational. There's no point in playing the moral relativism card: You're wrong.

How does a man deserve death for downloading a single MP3 versus a man that attempts genocide? You rid one of his life anyways, regardless of how much 'suffering' you wish to put into the death. If two children become curious to each other's bodies and violate certain state laws accidentally, do they deserve death? Do you have the inhumanity and ignorance to say yes?


There are many things wrong with prisons. Punishment should not include social interaction, as was probably proven to you by your time-outs in elementary school and your detentions in high school, so why does prison allow social interaction unless you have committed a serious enough crime for solitary confinement?

I believe the solution lies in creating a different form of solitary confinement in which criminals can be sentenced to for a shorter period of time than regular prison. Furthermore, impose serious fines along with the sentence. The only form of entertainment would be reading, and any book or reading material that is not immediately available to the prison will be purchased and charged to the criminal if he wishes to keep the book. I do not believe, after all, in an unreasonable restriction of the human's right to knowledge. If a criminal does not know how to read, they should be taught how to read throughout their sentence [What a pun...]

What are the advantages? With reduced sentences, less resources are required, and therefore more money is saved that can go into psychiatrists and book purchases. More money can also be saved if the justice system is remodeled, specifically the legalization of drugs, which will allow some economic growth and more resource saving in prisons.

 

[Livewire]

More often than not, Prison really doesn't solve the issue. Criminals need rehabilitation. Without it, once they get out of jail, they'll head right back there in a vicious, never ending cycle of crime and hate.

 

[Nikorasu]

Not at all, being sent to prison puts the potential of convicts to get employment extremely low. It would be a lot better to train/educate criminals so they have more of a worth in society, meaning instead of committing crimes they instead work and earn a living.

 

[Yoshikko]

It depends on the person, completely. Prison can be a good place to give someone the time to set things straight, to get things in order and to pick their lives up again. There are job opportunities in prison, with which you can also earn money, which is like a sort of rehabilitation and preperation. There's lots of other activities as well which would help a person find their way again, and it's not all that bad.

But I also agree with Penatraits post, on how prison can work the other way around and provide as a place to improve skills and figure out ways to avoid getting caught as soon as they get out, they experienced what it was like and know how to fix what they did wrong and can also share experiences. It can be a downward spiral too, if they get in the "hole", which is basically a cell in which they have to spend 23 hours in isolation. I would go crazy I can tell you that and I don't think that it is the right approach at all, it is the safest one though.

Another thing I hear of happening is that prison can become a comfort zone, it can become a home and so comfortable that criminals in fact don't want to leave, and won't try their best to behave well because secretly they are afraid to be out and on their own again. In prison, you know what you can expect and you know what your place is, it is all provided for you and there is a routine, and all that structure is hard to find outside of prison, especially if that is what you're used to for many years.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

I think that prison is NOT a good punishment, providing that you want someone to stop doing something.

If you send someone to prison due to murder , It'll be on their pemanent record.If it says that he/she has beeen in prison on their permanent record, they'll have no life. If they have no life, when the person gets OUT of prison, he's gonna kill someone again. You don't want someone to die. Or to be you, your family, friends, etc.

I think sending the guy/girl to a pyschiatrist [sorry if I spelled it wrong] would be better. Ever heard of something called the Seven Deadly Sins?

I didn't think so.

Wrath (Latin, ira), also known as "rage", may be described as inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger. Wrath, in its purest form, presents with self-destructiveness, violence, and hate that may provoke feuds that can go on for centuries. Wrath may persist long after the person who did another a grievous wrong is dead. Feelings of anger can manifest in different ways, including impatience, revenge, and vigilantism.- via Wikipedia[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Deadly_Sins]

Revenge, Vigilantism, Payback. Isn't that what prison is? Just because someone killed someone doesn't give you the right to kill him/her, whether it is or isn't allowed by the law. Even if you don't belive in God, these things don't feel right.

Just forgive then help the guy/gal for crying out loud.

Some people just can't be rehabilitated. And frankly, for murder, I don't think you should be let out ever. So, that solves your problem about them having no life when they get out.

I don't think prison really as a way to punish someone, as you seem to indicate. But rather like a way of protecting the rest of society from that individual.

 

[The Nightmare]

prison is a good punishment because I don't think you would want a killer to be out there endangering people lives and also you would want to protect your children from predators in public.