ARmy Rumour SErvice

Originally Posted by Buzz

No sorry old chap but the US one is disfunctional.

If you keep locking up so many people you are simply going to create an alternative criminal society that feels disenfranchised. The level of brutality in the prisons is also used as an extra judicial punishment as well against persons awaiting trial. This is one of the reasons the UK government is looking to terminate the current extradition treaty.

Taking it in turns to suck each others dicks in celebration because you cracked down on violence in the prison system through using further force of arms and compliance methods that resemble those used in Camp X-ray is simply retarded.

As far as the UK goes one of leading programs at the moment is theraputic communites set up in prisons, at referal units and in some places entire prisons. It works a hell of a lot better in kerbing re-offending than simple brute force does. You can't try and break criminals and then hope they won't re-offend in future when released, that cack handed aproach only works against people who should never have been handed a custodial sentence in the first place. The only effect it has on the wider prison population is that criminals become far more prepared to kill witnesses to avoid being sent back.

And so it goes in circles.

Have you actually administered a prison or even worked in one in the USA?
Therapeutic communities as you call them were introduced in several systems over here more than 20 years ago, they're kinda going out of vogue as not being as effective as they were thought to be (although it's a good environment for youthful and first time offenders) now I've no desire to expound on programmes to reduce recidivism suffice to say I found the most successful to be education (though we no longer pay for college courses) - I insisted that anyone without a high school diploma under the age of forty attend school, the vast majority of I/Ms attending school in my facility gained their High School Diploma those refusing to enroll in school became ineligible for Good Time. Inmates doing medium term sentences in high to medium level facilities could, if they had a high school diploma, learn a trade and gain civilian qualifications. Work was compulsory, those refusing were housed in separate units with less freedom, fewer privileges and a slimmer chance of any type of early release programme.
A brutal regime? Not in my State. Breaking inmates? We preferred building them up!

We do tend to lock up our thugs whereas the UK system persists in allowing theirs to roam free - much, if poster's moans on Arrse are anything to go by, to the chagrin of the British public. I do advocate running external programmes for drug offences rather than locking addicts up - and that's gaining momentum as various State governments realise building and staffing 'clinics' is far less expensive than incarceration.

I agree it is a vicious cycle!