What should prison be like?

[Alexanderofmacedon]

It would be impossibly costly, but if they had a prison for every age group. Like every two years they move up to the next set.

[Sjakihata]

Foucaults Surveiller et punir has some good comments on the prison system. Especially I like Foucaults attention to detail and that by telling a seemingly unimportant story, he traces a line through history explaining different methods of punishment.
When you did a crime, in earlier time, the punishment was often physical, lashes, decapitation or others such things. However, in the 19th century, Foucault explains, punishments began focusing on the internal instead of the external, meaning the soul got punished now not the body. In the wake of this change an elaborate prison system was created. However, as Foucault points out, the prison system doesnt work well as a deterrent nor as an effective way of punishing, many inmates regurarly comes back again for another round. As a deterrent the prison obviously doesnt work well, to cite a current example. In danish law, our rightwing government has recently increased the sentences for assaults (especially serious assaults). That would - by the reasoning behind prison as a deterrent mean, that serious assault would drop - that's not the case, since the increase in punishment the crime rates in serious crimes has been climbing paying no attention to the longer punishments.

Punishments in modern society reflects the crime, in terms of days to be in prison. Apparently, it would seem, criminals, when conducting the crime, has different approaches: 1) the crime is spontaneous, no attention is payed to punishment, only the current crime is in focus, it would be done no matter if death penalty was the consequence. 2) the criminal makes a qualified guestimate and reasons that the potential win of the crime is bigger than the punishment (this case can be affected to higher punishments, however, few criminals are shrewd like this one) and 3) the crime is psychologically motivated, meaning the criminal has a disorder, disease or has 'a bad childhood' etc, so that it is really no longer a choice but rather something that draws him to do the crime (often violence, rape etc).

Im sure more general categories can be highlighted, but these are basic, and only 2 can be adjusted by higher penalties, and I am sure that the second category is the lesser one of all criminals.

So, prisons should be a place for rehabilitation, however, I do not agree with some of the modern prisons with too much luxury, it should still be remembered as a bad place (other than depriving freedom) and it should work as a deterrent as much as it can. Recognizing my previous comments, it is clear that more is needed. A change of life in society, better education, public healthcare (psychologists, pedagogues, social workers etc) and other elements to work preventive, basically I think a lot of crime is proportional to the average living standard of a society, if we better that we lower the crimes in a good, sensible and permanent way.

[Idaho]

The trouble with making prison a bad place is that it creates a class of brutalised, and hence brutal people who are on a revolving door from prison to society.

[Scurvy]

i belive that the function of a prison is primarily to attempt to rehabilitate the imprisoned into open population, or in extreme cases isolate dangerous people from society, however that means that prisons should be as nice as possible and have emphasis on improving those within them, not persecuting them...

sos if im repeating whats been said above but it was a lot of writing ^^

[Sjakihata]

The trouble with making prison a bad place is that it creates a class of brutalised, and hence brutal people who are on a revolving door from prison to society.

Don't put words in my mouth, I have enough in there already ;) Im not saying it should be a bad place, but it shouldnt be a good one either. Limiting freedom seems to be the most important task along with bettering and rehabilitating the inmates. Therefore I oppose unrestricted access to internet, communications and television, however, some access should be granted. Prison should represent neutrality and nothing more or less, better or worse. Best would be to get rid of it, but untill some better alternative arises it should be kept.