Reply #87: Strange that no one replied to this [View All]

[primavera]

Kind of hard to rebut that, isn't it? I mean, what is punishment all about? If we're all so concerned about recidivism, doesn't that bespeak a lack of faith in our existing system's ability to rehabilitate criminals? And if we aren't sending people to jail in the hopes of rehabilitating them so that they can safely re-enter society, then why send them to jail in the first place? Just because we want them to suffer, even though we know it won't do them or us any good? If the punishments we mete out aren't solving the problem to everyone's satisfaction, do we just shoot criminals because there's no hope of them ever becoming safe and productive members of society? Why not? Perhaps the focus of our discussion should be less on labeling criminals as "monsters" and adding layer upon layer of punishment which we all seem to agree is relatively ineffective insofar as actually rehabilitating anyone, but rather on devising methods of treating criminal behavior that hold out greater promise of rehabilitating them.