What are prisons for?
Yesterday I highlighted Colin Barnett's promise to close the Boronia women's prison in Bentley. Id like to elaborate on this issue a little bit.
There are two ideologies behind dealing with criminals once they are locked away. The first is to make them pay for what they have done - a focus on punishment. This typically involves very limited compassion for offenders, harsh conditions and spartan facilities - real bread-and-water stuff. The second has a focus on rehabilitation. Most people have a good side to them, and although they may have done something wrong, they can still learn the error of their ways and become a model citizen. This philosophy realises that many inmates are in this position due to drugs, upbringing or poverty, therefore giving them the skills and education they need can break the vicious cycle. They can also be educated in how to better be a member of society.
This tactic clearly has superiorities over the "make em pay" attitude. For a start, if there are reduced reoffences, there is reduced crime - crime rate goes down. There are more useful people in society - economy improves. Less crime means less criminals - reduce overcrowding in prisons. ABC's The Poll Vault ran a story on this today and referenced the story of "Badness", a recently released armed robber over east. He's going to campagin for better rehabilitation.
"The public scream about why recidivism rates are so high ... inmates live in primitive, squalid states, are taught no life skills, are thrown onto the street after sentence with nothing. No hope, no future, no skills. They turn to drugs, then they turn to crime. And then it starts all over again."
Statistics also show that "...without intervention, 80% of incarcerated child molesters will reoffend within the one year of their release". Clearly the focus should be on rehabilitation, not punishment. So why do we even have a question? The "make em pay" philosophy is rooted in vengence. People want to see the baddies pay for their crimes, and that is what a punishment-orientated system caters for. Clearly it is an outdated, archane concept. It's a hard mentaility to get over and embrace the notion that criminals are people too.
Colin Barnett subscribes to this way of thinking, he made that clear when he said "prisons should be about inflicting punishment". This statement is drenched in a desire for retribution. The best justification he can come up with is that the facilities are "too luxurious", apparently better suited as an aged care home.
Another relevant issue is the drugs policy of each party, but I'll save that for another time.
There are two ideologies behind dealing with criminals once they are locked away. The first is to make them pay for what they have done - a focus on punishment. This typically involves very limited compassion for offenders, harsh conditions and spartan facilities - real bread-and-water stuff. The second has a focus on rehabilitation. Most people have a good side to them, and although they may have done something wrong, they can still learn the error of their ways and become a model citizen. This philosophy realises that many inmates are in this position due to drugs, upbringing or poverty, therefore giving them the skills and education they need can break the vicious cycle. They can also be educated in how to better be a member of society.
This tactic clearly has superiorities over the "make em pay" attitude. For a start, if there are reduced reoffences, there is reduced crime - crime rate goes down. There are more useful people in society - economy improves. Less crime means less criminals - reduce overcrowding in prisons. ABC's The Poll Vault ran a story on this today and referenced the story of "Badness", a recently released armed robber over east. He's going to campagin for better rehabilitation.
"The public scream about why recidivism rates are so high ... inmates live in primitive, squalid states, are taught no life skills, are thrown onto the street after sentence with nothing. No hope, no future, no skills. They turn to drugs, then they turn to crime. And then it starts all over again."
Statistics also show that "...without intervention, 80% of incarcerated child molesters will reoffend within the one year of their release". Clearly the focus should be on rehabilitation, not punishment. So why do we even have a question? The "make em pay" philosophy is rooted in vengence. People want to see the baddies pay for their crimes, and that is what a punishment-orientated system caters for. Clearly it is an outdated, archane concept. It's a hard mentaility to get over and embrace the notion that criminals are people too.
Colin Barnett subscribes to this way of thinking, he made that clear when he said "prisons should be about inflicting punishment". This statement is drenched in a desire for retribution. The best justification he can come up with is that the facilities are "too luxurious", apparently better suited as an aged care home.
Another relevant issue is the drugs policy of each party, but I'll save that for another time.
posted by Nic White at
9:32 PM
