h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, since every effort to rehabilitate in prisons seems to be an abysmal failure (I don't know the exact numbers of repeat offenders, but they're staggering), I would have to say that we are creating that ghetto full of people that can't conform to society. And we release them into society, they commit crimes again, and we slap another 15 year sentence on them, only to release them in 3. There is therefore no deterrence factor, no rehabilitation factor, and no safety factor for the rest of the population. Regardless of what you think the job of prison is, it is clear that it isn't doing it.

Now that is something I can agree with wholeheartedly.

So what can be done to change it? Take away the mattresses, pool tables, televisions (I have to live at university without TV - why should some prisoners get it?) and so forth. Make prison a really unpleasant place to be and see if that has any effect.

This is what I'll do when I become King:

- End the war on drugs, and release nonviolent drug offenders. This will free up prison space to allow us to keep the rest for their full sentences. This one is stolen straight from the Libertarian Party, but hey, it makes sense.

- End the Holiday Inn atmosphere in prison. Prison food is better quality than you can get in most military installations. That will change. Get rid of the workout gear, so we're not breeding super-criminals. When they're not working or eating, they'll be in their cells. No prisoners lounge, no pool tables, no televisions. If they want to know what's going on in the world, they can order magazine subscriptions. In this way, we're not mistreating them, but neither are we coddling them. Missing the Jerry Springer show is not cruel and unusual, and I think that our all-volunteer national defense forces deserve to eat better than our criminals.

(Most Americans aren't aware of what happens with the USDA meat grades that aren't Grade A, so here's the scoop, as told to me by one who worked in food service for the military: Grade A meat goes to the markets for mass consumption. Grade B goes to prisons. Grade C goes to the public schools and the military. Grade D becomes dog food. Bottom line, prisoners get better fare than your kids and your military.)

- Offer vocational training. Offer them a class to learn something, and maybe they'll do something with themselves when they get out. If they're ignorant coming in, and ignorant going out, they're all too likely to be coming back in again.

The problem is that our psychologists and psychiatrists seem unable to "cure" murderers, serial rapists, and child molestors for the most part. The only exception is paranoid schizophrenics, who can now be released after psychological treatment as long as they are committed to taking their medication.

In my opinion, our shrinks should be paid good money to study people with lifelong prison sentences. These people should have their brains scanned, their psyches examined, their brain chemicals measured, their DNA tested, and so on. I think a lot of inmates would volunteer for this. And the end result might eventually be that we *will* be able to cure more murderers. For that matter, we might be able to prevent murders by diagnosing certain illnesses earlier.

We now know that a few of the multiple murders from the past, where once well-adjusted people seemed to suddenly snap, were the result of brain tumors. And yet, we don't do any routine medical evaluation today to see whether someone accused of such a murder might be similarly afflicted. Why not?

It baffles me that we claim human life is so precious, while ignoring an obvious solution that could easily save lives.

I do believe you're right. We have to research the causes, what drives people to murder and hurt and abuse. Then maybe something can be done about it. But Col Sellers' idea of the ideal prison seems pretty good as well. I bet they get better food in prison than I get at University.

There were some excellent phsycological and physiological studies done on prisoners in Germany and Poland in the late 1930s and early 1940s. To save reinventing the wheel, maybe American judicial officials can try and get copies of this legitimate government-sanctioned research.

Texas is currently utilising some aspects of the German policy with their ultimate solution ensuring alleged murderers do not reoffend.

Castration could be used on alleged sex offenders. Amputating tongues should shut-up political dissenters pretty smartly. Compulsery abortion for female associates of suspected offenders would be an excellent way of ridding the gene pool of potential criminals.

Or we could raise peoples standards of living so eliminating one of the most obvious breeding grounds for crime. No, it would never work. It would mean the greedies would have to pay higher taxes to fund the programmes. Bloody communists.

The spanish inquisition had some helpful ideas in that line, too, didn´t they?
*E´s face goes somewhat distorted, E´s alter ego joins his emotional department: Chemical Castration should be done to child-abusers!

Political dissenters is a bit of a touchy area if you're going to be cutting tongues out - what differs William Hague from a political dissenter when he disagrees with Labour policy?

I suspect that there may have been elements of sarcasm in looney's post...

Oh good.

I had got that. But I hadn´t read the other entries on the backlog:

Ideal Prison, what a laugh!

There are a lot of crimes that deserve some kind of punishment. When we have a catalogue of the things we want to have punished, the next step is to decide what do we punish these offenceses with.
I myself believe child-molestors should be punished far more severe than any murderer or spy or whatever, but the reality looks different.

"What kind of punishment is moraly O.K.?" could be the third question. I personaly have declined of christianity, but the idea of forgiveness standing over the crime is something I subscribe to, to a certain extent.
If my own children would be sexualy molested or killed, I would feel quite different, but what would that change? In this case the only option I could opt for giving way to these feelings is the Vendeta: "I kill my brother on the pretext that your brother did it", but we are luckily through with this in Germany.

Now to the questions of prisons. It is not a question of lowering "standards" for criminals, but raising the standards of the others: SO start getting the "developing world" get the fair prices for their products, stop the "civilized" selling weppons to people in central Africa etc. There are thousends of crimes done daily, and Wall Street Fever is one of the Symptoms of this muddled up world.

If we would put these crimes onto the list, we could all count ourselves as indirectly responsible for the killing of millions, as we do NOTHING to stop the loonies in power.

Germany today (oposite to Loonytünes historical reference) has the idea of resocialisation written on it´s flags. But the reality shows, that this aim is difficult to achive. Too many people in prison, too many drugs, too little preperation of the people of what will come of it.

A last question I would like to ask, is, have any of you been in a prison? Is it the fun-to-be-in-place and everybody wants to go there on holiday?
I had a little glimps at Stuttgart-Stammheim, where the red army fraction was held in the 1970ies. I had a job interview there ten years ago, and the staffroom itself was everything but inviting...

By the way, Loonytunes, I liked your input.

Prisons are not nice - but that's my perspective. I've not been in one, but I've been near them and they almost exude a sense of unpleasantness to my senses. It just seems like prison isn't a deterrent to some people, and I'd like to know why.

Perhaps they live figurativly speaking in a prison anyway.

Englander, nothing beats a bit of good-old-fashioned stirring

One of the problems with long prison sentences is that people get institutionalised. When eventually released they can't cope with everyday life. In extreme cases these losers commit crimes so they can go back to the safety of the jails. They use prison as a comfort-blanket.

Most criminal behaviour is caused through nurture not nature. Parenting and housekeeping skills should be taught at school - for males and females. Special attention must be given to so-called "at risk" families. Appoint social workers to work one-on-one with them. It wouldn't be cheap but hopefully it would prevent the current world-wide phenomenon of criminals begating criminals.

Yes, it would be nice if that could be stopped. The trouble is the government aren't going to be able to find the money to do it because they have to spend it on fancy cars and swimming pools for themselves.

I work one-to-one with youngsters, and we sometimes work three-to-one family, plus teammeetings, single therapies for members of the family, special atention by the youthboard, supervision of us, and allthough we go to extremes with the possibilities (and beeing paid by the state for what we do) there is no garantee for change. At the best we had it, that the young person concerned had the oportunity of staying two years at home with his familiy, and now we have to look for a new solution.

We often ask: "When can we say our help has been successful?" and we sometimes come up with "shocking" answers, like: When Mr. and Mrs. split up and get divorced at last, we have done a successful job. (I then always go and hide in a corner, and peep out every five muinutes, to see if God comes round with a baseballclub...)

A lot of work is done just by changing the attitude. I sometimes do not notice how "the person in the street" thinks about things, and that my opinion is a minority idea, and forget to explain.

I think I see what you're saying - sometimes the best thing is for the Mum and Dad to split up and get on with their lives, yes? That does make sense.

I agree that sometimes people are better parents if they don't have to live with the other one. There are just some people that should not be near each other. If the parents are fighing bad enough a split would ne nessisary.

I know one little girl who's parents were never married. Her mother met a wonderful man, me, and I love the kid so much, it is like she now has 3 parents instead of two. The extra attention can only do her good, right?

Guardian_007, it gets even better. My step-daughter's six-year-old son is a top little block. I took him fishing at the weekend