Ian Huntley attacked in prison.

Criminal justice and the punishments handed out relate to three core issues I believe...

The need for a deterrent

The prevention of further criminal acts by the convicted

The need for Society to see some form of retribution, the act of punishment itself

All the above posts relate to these three issues I believe, everyone weights them differently. We rely on representatives of our society to determine what constitutes reasonable punishment. There will never be an occasion whereby all of the people agree all of the time but I think it's fair that the weightings can be shifted to suit the crime within reason...For myself I kinda empathise with the point that because not everyone agrees as to what justified punishemnt looks like, then the fear felt by people like Huntley continues to make their life unpleasant. Prison is not meant to be a nice place after all...

I have visited a couple of prisons many years ago (as a student in the eighties), Brixton and Wandsworth. Being shown around for a few hours, meeting prisoners, guards, the smells, the shouting, lots of shouting; served pretty well as a deterrent. The prisoners themselves understood those three points as well I seem to remember. The guards generally didn't seem to...I guess the side of the fence you're standing on may influence opinion.

As to overseas punishment to reduce costs, didn't we try that a little while back, exporting folks to the colonies? Wonder what happened to them?

quote:

The prisoners themselves understood those three points as well I seem to remember. The guards generally didn't seem to...

Jamie, could you explain what you mean by this? (I'm interested, not indignant)

David

Well, we spoke to a number of prisoners about their experiences, why they were there, was the punishment justified? What would be better, what would be worse etc.?


Now, clearly these people had signed up for this sort of thing and were not perceived as dangerous or wild in any way but even so there was a fair cross section of types, from a background and crimes commited perspective

And quite simply I think everyone of them recognised the need for Society to see them being punished. As I recall, not one of them thought their crime 'deserved' anything other than a prison sentence of some degree and when other crimes were suggested, they pretty much always thought those crimes deserved prison sentences too, including 'white collar' crime. They also understood that prison was supposed to act as a deterrent to commiting crime in the first place and that clearly one of the benefits to society of being in prison was that while locked up they could not commit further crimes.

Another common theme was they thought first offenders should be 'shown' prison if they hadn't been on remand already but swiftly moved on their own first timers prisons. They thought this would be a good step towards avoiding repeat offending through association.

I can't remember for sure but I don't think many, if any, thought they were in prison for rehabilitation/education. It may have been a simplistic perspective but it wa sthe deterrent/punishment/prevention issues that were easily understood

The guards though felt pretty much that prison was primarily about punishment. Although they asked us to make sure we understood that it was also a chance for a prisoner to rehabilitate themselves..! This seemed like an official prompt.