From the mouth of others . . .
"We, the imprisoned, are America's shame. Society has no use for [us] outside, so it pays to lock [us] out of sight, without opportunity or spiritual rehabilitation...Building bigger and better...prisons does not begin to [resolve] the reasons behind the problems and madness"
- Prisoner George Dismukes
"Prison stops crime in two ways: deterrence and incapacitation. The JFA Institute report misses both points. A longer prison term deters some would-be criminals from committing crimes to begin with. For those criminals who are not stopped by the threat of prison, at least they are taken off the streets and locked up, preventing them from committing yet more crime."
- Fox News reporter John Lott
"You must not deal only with the symptoms. You have to get to the root causes by promoting environmental rehabilitation and empowering people to do things for themselves. What is done for the people without involving them cannot be sustained."
- Wangari Maathai
"I feel like the majority of the people who are sent to prison are beyond help. I find character to be one of the most enduring qualities, and most resistant to change."
-Blogger
"Before we can diminish our sufferings from the ill-controlled aggressive assaults on fellow citizens, we must renounce the philosophy of punishment, the obsolete, vengeful penal attitude. In its place we would seek a comprehensive, constructive social attitude - therapeutic in some instances, restraining in some instances, but preventive in its total social impact . . . But the punitive attitude persists. And just so long as the spirit of vengeance has the slightest vestige of respectability, so long as it pervades the public mind and infuses its evil upon the statute books of the law, we will make no headway toward the control of crime. we cannot assess the most appropriate and effective penalties so long as we seek to inflict retaliatory pain.
- Karl Menninger, The Crime of Punishment, Viking Press, 1969
"Today, most of the good people are afraid to be good. They strive to be broadminded and tolerant. It is fashionable to be tolerant - but mostly tolerant of evil - and this new code has reached the proportions of demanding intolerance of good."
- Fox News
"today's prison system should be abolished because it is a system pre-designed and constructed to warehouse the people of underdeveloped and lower economic communities"
-If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance
Which quotes resonated with you? Which do you agree with and which do you disagree with? Let me know!
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7 comments:
I feel that Dismukes comment is very true that the sole reason for prisons is to keep the prisoners away from the rest of the world and to punish them. With rehabilitation not being apart of prison then once a prisoner is released then he will probably end up back in prison due to the fact that he wasn't taught what is wrong and how he/she can fix his/her life.
I disagree with the quote from blogger because I feel that there is good in everyone. There is always a possibility for a person to change his/her character, but he/she must be willing to change. So when a person does get released they will be better off.
Blogger's comment was thought provoking. In my opinion most people with major offenses such as murder have deranged minds and are either emotionally or mentally unstable, and i don't know how much this state can be altered. But, regarding lesser offenses I think it is especially important to attempt to help the individual distinguish right from wrong and to aid them in getting to know and understand themselves. Therefore, programs with these goals can go along with imprisonment. Just like rehab centers can!
Also, regarding "son of ander's" comment...the problem usually is that the person isn't willing to change because they see no fault in themselves...so they need help in discovering that fault.
I agree with 'son of ander' 100%. Our system does everything that it can to keep prisoners away from the rest of the world around them with little oppertunities for rehabilitaion. There are always horrifying stories that develop from prisoner's experiences, and I feel like little is offered to them while they are locked down. I know that they all have done something terrible to get in the postition, but like in juvenile facilities, I believe that services should be offered to help the prisoners turn their lives around for when (if the do) get released.
Son of Ander:
I very much agree with your opinion on the quotes. Dismukes raises an important point - whether we are doing this for the good of all or for the good of ourselves. By throwing people in prison we are taking on an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude. Never a good idea.
d.r.:
I agree with you that people who commit major offenses are mentally and emotionally unstable - whether it is genetic, caused by a disturbing past, or any other reason. But this makes me feel even more like we need to try and help these people, maybe you won't be successful with everyone but you should at least try. When you look at the criminal as a victim of the urges that allowed them to commit the act than you can begin to feel some sympathy for them. I don't want this to come off as feeling sorry for murderers, I am just saying everyone should try to be helped (besides possibly the most extreme cases that cannot be reversed).
In reference to the conversation that has began about the psychology behind committing an extreme violent crime, specifically murder:
I think that laurel's point that there are a few extreme, irreversible cases (emphases on a few) is valid. However to say that all violent offenders are deranged or emotionally unsound is a dangerous generalization.
Most likely while the crime was being committed the offender's emotional state was distorted by monumental feelings of fear, or anger, or sadness; but just because for one violent moment a person loses control it doesn't mean that they are permanently insane and beyond help.
I think that, in comparison to the bloggers quote, the John Lott quote about severe prison sentences acting as deterrents against future crimes is much more pertinent to understanding the Punishment v. Rehab debate for extreme violent offenses
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