Penal Reform

[BoredBloke]

Those in prison will not be allowed to earn more than £20 a week - the rest will go towards paying for the service and into the victims of crime fund - Personally I can't think of a single reason why we should provide them with warm accomodation, food and entertainment when we have pensioners freezing and/or starving.

There must be plenty of roles that are uneconimic to do in this country that we could get this lot to do rather than sitting in their cells watching TV all day

[administrator]

Are people in prison for punishment or as punishment? I have always been told that it was the latter.

I am all for programs in prisons to keep them occupied and rehabilitation, but it should not be further retribution or open to commercial abuse.

In any case, the economic prospects of the UK mean that benefits will be withdrawn for the vast majority of job seekers so there will be few jobs that nobody wants to do. Crime will increase too. Indeed, long before the real rot sets in, for some the prospect of gaol with a bed, a roof over their head and regular meals will be an attractive option.

You cannot say that the act of being imprisoned, being banged up as punishment, is effective if said act is not in some way painful to the offender. In the past being in prison was as punishment as the conditions inside should have made it unpleasant enough for the criminal to not want to offend again. This does not appear to be the case now. So appreciate that being imprisoned is the punishment for breaking the law but the act is not enough of a deterrent any more so in effect being imprisoned is no longer a punishment unless life for those inside is made harder. Having to do 40 hours a week of proper work would help make being imprisoned the punishment it was designed to be IMO.

Rehabilitation is another matter. I do not believe that our society helps people enough before they get into prison. Should heroin addicts be banged up because they have become victims of addiction or should they be helped more to get out of the rut they are in? Banging them up does no good whatsoever. Should petty criminals be educated and helped to find a purpose in life rather than banged up immediately? I think they should. Society has failed these individuals a lot of the time and looking at these root causes would lower the volume of offenders hitting these institutions.

Agree about economic prospects for our country but what you describe - benefit withdrawal and therefore crime increasing - would lead to vicious circle that we could almost not escape from. A bleak prospect. In which the treatment of criminals while in jail would be the least of our worries...