Poll of the Day > Prison cell quality

(+) Yeah! (+)

Depends on the type of criminal. Made a few mistakes in life and needs rehabilitation? Sure. Sociopathic murderer or the majority of GOP politicians these days? No.

Even after consideration, I'd vote for relatively nice, although I would say that Swedish one looks appropriate. I don't think it's a good idea to punish someone with worse conditions - it's going to make their deranged psyche even worse. By the same token, I don't want to see a person with privilege get a swanky prison cell - the simple and practical one will do just fine.

I don't have a problem with this. The restriction of their freedoms is their sentence, not the conditions of the place where they have been restricted to. It's not like living in an absolute shithole magically makes you a better person.

They also have one of the lowest re-offending rates in the world

They keep their old prisons open as a museum to remember how barbaric they used to be.

That's better accommodations then a lot of American apartments to be honest

That's way too nice of a cell, if playing Prison Architect taught me anything it's that a cell should be just big enough for one person and should have absolutely nothing in it to maximize prisoner capacity and profit.

Neither. Prisoners who have committed less severe crimes or who might be found not guilty should not suffer, but anyone who has committed a crime should not live in luxury.

What about the star trek brig, that's pretty decent

Yellow posted...

They also have one of the lowest re-offending rates in the world

They keep their old prisons open as a museum to remember how barbaric they used to be.

Basically this. Prisons are supposed to be to remove problem.pepple from society for a set time. Not to punish, per se, but that's how it's come to be viewed. And then people why re-offense rates are so high, and crime and homelessness or released prisoners.

Texas prisons don't even have AC

Yes, I think that people deserve at least a bed, a chair, a desk and places to write if they're going to be confined for a long period. Who the hell thinks otherwise, that's psycho.

Not nice, but at the same time shorter sentences for first-time/less-severe offenses.

Gaawa_chan posted...

I don't have a problem with this. The restriction of their freedoms is their sentence, not the conditions of the place where they have been restricted to. It's not like living in an absolute shithole magically makes you a better person.

Pretty much. Prison as a punishment is a fundamental failure of an ideology that achieves nothing except momentary catharsis for the general public and to line the pockets of a few executives. It doesn't do a particularly good job as a deterrent, it does very little to prevent re-offending, and in many cases it actively pushes minor criminals toward worse crimes than they otherwise would have ever committed.

If nothing else, all of the "this is like being in prison!" histrionics (many of which came from the same sort of people that insist that prison cells should be miserable) in response to the Covid lockdowns show that most people understand that being unable to leave is itself a punishment. And that wasn't even actually being unable to leave, it was just not being able to go wherever they wanted but still having full access to anything they'd normally have done at home that didn't involve physically bringing another person there, which is substantially better than even the nicest prisons.

Zareth posted...

That's better accommodations then a lot of American apartments to be honest

Which is more of an indictment of the housing situation than anything to do with prisons.

Prison should be used for rehabilitation, not punishment. Most crimes aren't committed by "criminals", it's mostly people who found themselves in unfortunate circumstances. Drug addiction, mental illness, unemployment, etc. These people should receive treatment for their conditions, as well as education and social adjustment, plus provided with gainful employment when they are released. "Criminals" are created when someone goes to jail and they find it impossible to obtain a job after release, or their mental condition was untreated or exacerbated by incarceration.

Right being restricted to being in one building for like 20 years is the punishment not putting them in horrid living conditions.

Trust me, if I made you stay inside your house for even 5 years without leaving once would drive you crazy, even if I provided all the food/drink you want, and you had plenty of entertainment.

Yellow posted...

They also have one of the lowest re-offending rates in the world

They keep their old prisons open as a museum to remember how barbaric they used to be.

This is honestly what makes me appreciate a lot of their prison systems over there.

I used to be on the other side of the fence from an emotional standpoint, but results are results.

Monopoman posted...

Right being restricted to being in one building for like 20 years is the punishment not putting them in horrid living conditions.

Trust me, if I made you stay inside your house for even 5 years without leaving once would drive you crazy, even if I provided all the food/drink you want, and you had plenty of entertainment.

This too.

captpackrat posted...

Prison should be used for rehabilitation, not punishment.

And how many of these fuckers want to be rehabilitated? Their living conditions should be absolute shit.

jsb0714 posted...

And how many of these fuckers want to be rehabilitated? Their living conditions should be absolute shit.

We get it. You prefer barbaric punishment over rehab.

It depends on the person.

fishy071 posted...

It depends on the person.

Studies have been done and the poorer a prisoner is treated the more likely they are to fall back into the crimes that put them there in the past.

Think about it even if they want to go straight they have a much harder road being an ex-con and in many cases have trouble securing a job even if they have some skills. Meanwhile if it's an ex-con that has no skills trying to get a half-way decent job is a nightmare.

But you can bet your ass if they live in shitty conditions those entire 20 years they are far more likely to get out and immediately go back into crime. Also no one is advocating for something like a spa or some high end hotel, we just want reasonable ones like some other countries have.

jsb0714 posted...

And how many of these fuckers want to be rehabilitated? Their living conditions should be absolute shit.

adjl posted...

Prison as a punishment is a fundamental failure of an ideology that achieves nothing except momentary catharsis for the general public

That approach doesn't work. Every single piece of data available on the subject disagrees with you. Get over yourself and try thinking in a way that actually seeks to solve the problem instead of self-righteous intellectual masturbation.