To say that prisons should be abolished altogether?

[ThisAvidOchreEagle]

Rehabilitation and community justice models work better than locking people away. AIBU to think prisons are outdated and ineffective?

@FKAT I am for prison, you can read my post, but much more needs to be done to prevent people getting to that point.
Typical life story could be:
Addict parents
Don't like school as you're angry, you don't get the lessons, kids don't play as you smell
Abuse at home
Taken into care
Too challenging for fostering
First incident at 11
Young offenders
Don't feel safe due to prison mentality/trauma
No hope of a job as you're illiterate and have a criminal record
More crime
Prison
More abuse (raped in prison)
Become abusive to gf/ have poor mental health
More prison
No chance of employment, frustrated
Done for murder
So at any of these points, we can try to help, and some do but it is not enough

I think the problem is the disconnect between what (generally) men want and their inability to earn enough to buy it legally. Inadequate education and low wages for unskilled work direct young men into criminal pursuits as a faster path to getting what they see as necessary. I can't earn it, so I will take it anyway.

Oh so you want Paedos rapists and child unalivers waltzing round the streets. Would you like one living next door to you and yours!
I’ll get back in my box now though as I’ll end up saying too much.

Yet ANOTHER thread with a ridiculous proposition that the OP only writes the opening post then vanishes!

I'm beginning to suspect they're being done by the same person with name changes.

At least she'll sort the garden out

I think the whole system needs an overhaul and there needs to be more diversion, meaningful community engagement and help after prison. But no, I cant see that abolishing them altogether is a good idea.

It isn't a case of one or the other. Punishment, protection and deterrent also form part of our sentencing principles so whilst I agree that community justice should be more, and better, utilised for appropriately low level crimes, the public also require protecting from those committing dangerous crimes, and not all criminals are able to be rehabilitated.

I work with ex offenders trying to re-settle them into the community. It is incredibly difficult to lead a'normal' life once you have been in prison - think accommodation, jobs, friends etc. For many there seems little option other than to re-offend rather than being homeless and jobless. So prison does not really 'work' other than protecting the public while people are inside.

I have never worked with anyone who has not suffered major trauma - abuse as a child, addicted parents, head injuries, care system etc etc.

Like Simpson I think that many people should not be in prison at all. But there are of course murderers, rapists and other very violent criminals who need to be in prison to protect the public.

We can build more prisons and lock more people up but it does not solve the problem. That would require much more investment at an earlier stage. And I don't think the public are ready to listen to the narrative around 'prison doesn't work'.

This.

YABVVVVVU Delusional even.

some people cannot be rehabilitated, they are dangerous to society.

Is this a dump and run OP?

This is a good point I hadn't thought of before. When people say violent criminals need to be integrated back into the community, they're not talking about wealthy areas, are they?

Only those people who are a danger to society should be in prison.
The others should do some meaningful pay back to society.

No they are not and many of the people making the case for fewer custodial sentences rarely come from the same communities as the offenders. It's easy to be moved by stories of a difficult childhood if you grew up in a stable, loving home and think that a less than optimum childhood is the reason people turn to crime but for those of us that grew up in and around similar situations it's far less persuasive.

Meadowland · Today 21:35
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Only those people who are a danger to society should be in prison.
The others should do some meaningful pay back to society.

I think that’s a very reasonable compromise.

I think restorative justice is a dreadful idea. It puts pressure on the victim: "If you don't forgive him/allow him to retraumatise you, it's YOUR fault if he reoffends." I also highly doubt it works - how many abusers are really going to think, "OMG, I didn't realise I'd affected my victim so badly until they told me"? They'll just say all the right things to get their sentences reduced.

I’m in favor of stopping the use of prison for non-violent offenders. A well-designed system of community service and therapy would be much more effective at preventing recidivism. it likely wouldn’t be cheaper.

Most violent criminals need stiffer penalties than they currently face. I don’t think violent rapists or pedophiles should ever be allowed back into society.