Math Is Fun Forum

Ninja 101

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 936

The Prison system.

Statement:
the prison system is't good at all, in fact it is bad for society because people are driven to insanity.

Example: Guantanamo bay

Statement: the narrow minded govornment builds more prisons to make more money so in fact they are PRO-CRIME. which is a bad thing.

Statement: the govornment just makes it worse afterwars by putting people in sanitariums, applyng painful votages to the temples, making it very hard for people so they commit suicide.

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Chaos is found in greatest abundance wherever order is being saught. It always defeats order, because it is better organized.

Patrick

Real Member

Registered: 2006-02-24

Posts: 1,005

Re: The Prison system.

I don't see how building more prisons increases crime-rates.. It's more likely the other way around.

I'd like to hear an example from you, on what to do instead of putting people in prison?

(btw, I think this is a topic that should be in dark discussions?)

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MathsIsFun

Administrator

Registered: 2005-01-21

Posts: 7,713

Re: The Prison system.

Prison should be for people we can't trust in society.

At the moment we say "because of your horrible crime we will protect society ... for 5 years ... after that we will magically trust you again".

And then we also take people who are unlikely to repeat a crime and lock them up too!

We should make up our minds: are prisons punishment, or to protect society?

Why not have punishment like fines or community work, and turn prisons into (humane) places for people who are not psychologically capable of controlling their behaviour.

There are many other arguments against the present prison system, including the "Crime University" one, and the "Branded for Life" one.

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"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..."  - Leon M. Lederman

Ricky

Moderator

Registered: 2005-12-04

Posts: 3,791

Re: The Prison system.

At the moment we say "because of your horrible crime we will protect society ... for 5 years ... after that we will magically trust you again".

Not at all.  When released, we place convicts on parole.  They are strictly monitored, given jobs, and have to sign in every night.  Don't follow the rules, and you go back to prison.  That makes it much harder to commit a crime.

As for driving people to insanity, I would have to ask for evidence.  I've never heard this before.

Prisons also don't get the government money.  Sure, there is some work that the prisoners do, but prisoners have to be clothed and fed.  There has to be many guards on duty all the time.  The building has to be inspected constantly.  It costs a heck of a lot of money.

Furthermore, electric shock treatment is not in wide use anymore.  Those who go to insane asylums are put there to keep them out of danger from themselves, because if they were left out on the street, they would kill themselves.

And finally, a large part of prisons are drug offenders.  Those who use or sell drugs.  I personally don't think this should be a crime.  But ignoring that, we should treat those who commit violent crimes (endangering others) and non-violent crimes differently.  We shouldn't throw a guy who likes to smoke up every once and a while in with a person who murdered 14 babies.  That just isn't right.

*Edited cause eye know spel write

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"In the real world, this would be a problem.  But in mathematics, we can just define a place where this problem doesn't exist.  So we'll go ahead and do that now..."

Ninja 101

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 936

Re: The Prison system.

Statement:
this is wierd. It's moved

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Chaos is found in greatest abundance wherever order is being saught. It always defeats order, because it is better organized.