We were talking, I thought, about the difference between a regular system and one that was ad hoc. As far as reparations go, I think that should be addressed, as it always has been, in a civil tort action. As far as protection goes, incarceration is the only way to protect for any length of time.
I do not buy the idea that prisons are only colleges of crime. For one thing, inmates who are in their forties might return to crime, but not the high- risk, aggressive, violent sort of crime they might have pursued in their teens and twenties. This tendency to settle down is an established phenomenon, and argues for the value of incarceration for violent offenders. Furthermore, some people actually do pursue high school and college courses, or learn a trade. Also, the brutality that is the subtext of your comment about psychological problems is only endemic in maximum security prisons. In minimum security prisons, or even intermediate security prisons, the offenders are much more tractable and the society much more acceptable. Additionally, there is counseling available wherever one is sent.
I am less concerned, however, about the effect on the particular criminal than the cultural effect of our penal practices....... |
