Our member jacob66 suggested that we do a poll on prisons. What is the purpose of a prison?

You can submit poll ideas here
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Should cheating / infidelity be considered a punishable criminal law?
Choices:
No - votes: 2820 (68.9%)
Yes - votes: 1274 (31.1%)
There were 4094 total votes.
The poll ended: August 14th 2021

This poll got a lot of comments in its thread. Apparently there's a lot of confusion between criminal vs. civil law. Consider learning what the difference is.

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A just ruler amongst tyrants

Well, what we wish the goal/purpose were or what it is? In general or in our specific country? What crime was committed? Cause depending on your views of the prison system, that could be completely different. Like, for the private prison system, it is "to make money." Rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation, or retribution is completely secondary to that, regardless of what they are originally in for. As for which crime, things like serial murder should definitely be incapacitation, but minor drug offenses like marijuana possession could be deterrence or rehabilitation (whether they should even be in prison to begin with for that is another can of worms. There's only one. It says No. I'm not responding to trolls about this. It's 2021.). Tax evasion? Probably rehabilitation and deterrence, but whether that ACTUALLY deters the people committing tax fraud is a separate issue. Continuing that line, don't think murderers, rapists, etc. think "well I could go to prison for this, so maybe I shouldn't" but eh I've seen some seriously unhinged people on the internet, and I doubt they'd be like that in real life, where there may be consequences

Oh but in an ideal world where it could actually be effective, rehabilitation where possible. Deterrence second, incapacitation for if the first two don't work. Retribution through prison feels more like a message that stems from the first three

Last edited by Ceiye at 1:03 am, Aug 15 2021

In ideal world it should be rehabilitation, at least for those without lifetime sentence mmm...

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A deterrent and a retribution. However, since I can only choose one, I went with the latter.

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100% depends on the crime. we shouldn't put people in prison who treat it as criminal collage for when they come out, but some crimes you can't be rehabilitated from. Honestly those crimes I think we should have 'prision cities', things that don't give you a life sentence, but we cant let you go back among the general population. However I think distinctions need to be made for every crime in that case, and it would get messy.

Rehabilitation. Where to Invade Next (2015) and 13th (2016) are good docs on how prisons should work and many countries have corrupt or unfair prison systems. The list is long but America, China, and Russia stand on top and multiple countries run straight out concentration camps to this day.

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In the US? It's cheap/free labor. Prisoners can do anything from putting out wildfires, making hand sanitizer, call centers, etc. And by cheap I mean less than $1 per hour depending on the prison. All under the name of "rehabilitation". Some companies can only function because they rely on prison labor and the more prisoners the better.

I chose retribution though because going to jail is usually seen as a punishment for a crime. Not to rehabilitate those who really need it.

I chose incapacitation since removing dangerous people from the community is the fundamental need fulfilled by a prison.

Your poll question is again poorly chosen. Is the question "The primary goal currently is", in which case the answer depends completely on where the person you're asking is from (in the US it's corruption in the prison system and prison slavery, which is still constitutional), in the Nordic countries it's rehabilitation, or is the question "The primary goal SHOULD BE".

When I hear the word "goal", to me that represents the ideal, not the reality.
And, Ideally, prison should be a place for rehabilitation... even though it doesn't seem like that's what it actually is.

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Cheap labor should be an option.

Anyone who votes "Retribution", is mainly just concerned with revenge.
Not justice or reducing crime.
Just revenge.
Revenge is never justice. (though justice can be revenge)

Any actual studies, show that laws, policies, and sentencing that are more focused on retribution don't actually reduce or deter crime …and only some that focus on deterrence, in the case of some crimes, work. (so deterrence is valid, but only if it's done properly, and only for some crimes)

Rehabilitation/reformation, however, (which the prisons of practically no countries, actually focus much on) is quite effective.

Ah, so you like slavery, I see.

Would you mind if I posted an article that directly contradicts this?

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I'm actually not voting in this poll.

What prison should be isn't the same thing as what it is.

What it should be is rehabilitation first, deterrence second, incapacitation third, and retribution never. Retribution should pretty much be limited to civil law, I think. Sometimes permanent incapacitation is necessary, though (actual psychopaths).

What it is, in practice, varies by country. I think there a very very small number of countries that at least approximate the above list (though even then retribution is usually third or fourth, not "never" ). But I'm in the US, and our list is approximately "retribution and incapacitation in equal measure, then deterrence, then rehabilitation". Private prisons in particular have absolutely no rehabilitation programs, but at least some of the remaining public prisons attempt to do that to some extent.