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Should prisoners be given a nice christmas day?


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Because what happens in prisons matters.

 

You strike me as being an intelligent man - would you 'not care' if prisoners were routinely tortured and fed on a diet of hate and retribution?

 

Would it be of no interest to you if inmates were given productive work and intensive rehabilitation?

 

The thing about prisoners, Bonzo, is that most of them become ex-prisoners at some point - therefore the way that our prisons are run and the way that prisoners are treated is important...+

 

I totally agree, I would rather a prisoner be happy while behind bars.

 

When I say I don't care what happens I was talking to the people that seem to think that it is a bad thing that prisoners are given the odd perk while serving their time. I would rather see tham turn their life around while behind bars than suffer years of bad treatment, then set free.

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I totally agree, I would rather a prisoner be happy while behind bars.

 

When I say I don't care what happens I was talking to the people that seem to think that it is a bad thing that prisoners are given the odd perk while serving their time. I would rather see tham turn their life around while behind bars than suffer years of bad treatment, then set free.

 

Ah, I see where you were coming from now, excellent.

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]I totally agree' date=' I would rather a prisoner be happy while behind bars. [/b']When I say I don't care what happens I was talking to the people that seem to think that it is a bad thing that prisoners are given the odd perk while serving their time. I would rather see tham turn their life around while behind bars than suffer years of bad treatment, then set free.

 

And exact;y what would it take to make a prisoner "be happy while behind bars"? :loopy:

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I don't care what happensin prison, as long as they are removed from society.

 

With respect, that's a very shortsighted attitude.

 

There are times when it might be the lesser of two evils.

 

It seems to be generally accepted that the purposes of prisons are (in no particular order):

 

Restitution

Retribution

Rehabilitation

and

Deterrence.

 

The amount most criminals could earn while they are in prison is often dwarfed by the cost of keeping them there, so restitution is probably a non-starter.

 

Denying a peson his/her freedom id the most severe punishment allowed under British Law, so there is retribution.

 

Rehabilitation is likely to be expensive and time-consuming. Is society prepared to pay that cost on top ofthe cost of keeping people in prisons? Should the funds available for rehabilitation be spent on people who do not respond to the attempt to rehabilitate them, or should they be focussed where they are likely to do good?

 

Deterrence doesn't seem to work The number of people in prisons is increasing and there's no shortage of re-offenders.

 

There is, however another purpose of imprisonment. Protection. Whilst a person is in prison, (s)he's not out on the streets committing crime. Prison protects society from the predations of criminals.

 

Perhaps the prison system should be reviewed and changed? Let the rehabilitation effort be focussed on first-time inmates. Should they re-offend and be sentenced a second time, then rehabilitation didn't work very well so the emphasis would shift to deterrence. The second sentence would be in a far more basic prison with few amenities, would be quite long and would include the unserved portion of the first sentence with limited possibility (but still some possibility) of 'time off for good behaviour'.

 

If deterrence didn't work either and an inmate came back for a 3rd time, the emphasis would shift to protecting society. A very long sentence in a warehouse designed simply to keep criminals off the streets.

 

23hr in a cell one hour in the yard everyday same, no time off.

 

That often happens. Manpower costs are a significant part of the cost of running a prison. If the inmates are out of their cells, then they need adequate qualified supervision. That supervision is expensive.

 

Back to the original question: "Should prisoners be given a nice Christmas Day?"

 

Who should be given an unpleasant Christmas day and be taken away from his/her family and friends to cater for the prisoners? Perhaps the nice day could simply be a quiet time to reminisce in the security of a cell.

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There are times when it might be the lesser of two evils.

 

It seems to be generally accepted that the purposes of prisons are (in no particular order):

 

Restitution

Retribution

Rehabilitation

and

Deterrence.

 

The amount most criminals could earn while they are in prison is often dwarfed by the cost of keeping them there, so restitution is probably a non-starter.

 

Denying a peson his/her freedom id the most severe punishment allowed under British Law, so there is retribution.

 

Rehabilitation is likely to be expensive and time-consuming. Is society prepared to pay that cost on top ofthe cost of keeping people in prisons? Should the funds available for rehabilitation be spent on people who do not respond to the attempt to rehabilitate them, or should they be focussed where they are likely to do good?

 

Deterrence doesn't seem to work The number of people in prisons is increasing and there's no shortage of re-offenders.

 

There is, however another purpose of imprisonment. Protection. Whilst a person is in prison, (s)he's not out on the streets committing crime. Prison protects society from the predations of criminals.

 

Perhaps the prison system should be reviewed and changed? .

 

 

This sounds like an extract from Michael Allen's Textbook on Criminal Law :)

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  • 3 weeks later...
As far as I'm concerned, Christmas is a time for 'goodwill unto all men' - even the ones behind bars.

 

You mean like prison guards dressing up as Santa Claus and handing out little gifts to the inmates.

 

"Ho! Ho! Ho! number 27568, convicted child kidnapper rapist and murderer, a very Merry Christmas to you :gag:

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