Posted by lisa on 26/5/2009, 6:34:24
121.73.147.X
Hi there
I realise you are responding to your friend’s views on limited jail time + rehabilitation etc but I think you may be too quick to dismiss restorative justice and ‘victim/criminal confrontations’ for serious or violent crimes. The point of such programmes isn’t for the criminal to apologise and then wander out of jail. The processes I’ve read of require a huge investment of time from the criminal – up to years before both sides have been counselled to readiness to meet, and require them to talk frankly about their actions. And sure, hearing someone say sorry isn’t going to be enough if you’ve been violated or lost someone but having the chance to speak with the offender and to ask questions about the crime seems to speed along closure. I watched a really good documentary about one family’s experience with a restorative justice programme and one thing that stood out to me was the family’s relief that such a programme recognised that their ordeal and healing didn’t at a prison sentence.
Now I’m sure I’ve read stats the death penalty isn’t an effective deterrent for murder... If the threat of death doesn’t work, years of hard labour isn’t going to either. Are you proposing to deny all serious offenders from stimulation – tv, books, newspapers, other people - or just those that are never going to leave prison? If it is the first of those options, how do you expect these people to have any chance of re-integrating into society once their time is done?
My theory is that the taxpayer has to pay at either end. If a society is unwilling or unable to address and pay to rectify the issues that lead to crime – as you mention – then it has to pay to house and attempt to rehabilitate the resulting criminals. Within my little welfare state I’ve found that it’s the same person who bemoans a prisoner having a television in their cell who jumps on the ‘give me a taxcut!’ bandwagon come election time. To them I spew.
Ps. Why is the date order on this board all over the place?
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