2008-07-27, 10:40 PM
Okay, I just can't let this topic go without my thoughts being expressed.
First, you cannot lump all prisoners together. A person who drives drunk and kills someone in an accident has the potential for rehab while in prison. The time served in prison forces them to be apart from society until a safe enough amount of time has passed by for the 'average' person to have realized what they did was wrong and learn from their mistakes.
You then have people who have compulsions. They have no control over a desire that is a crime against another person. They know what they are doing is hurting the other person but they cannot help themselves from still doing it. As a continued threat to society, these are the ones who probably should have life in prison.
You also have those who do things that are wrong due to a mental illness. I'm currently thinking of a new mother who was dealing with extreme post-partum depression and felt that the best thing she could do for her 5 children would be to kill them. A deep mental illness of this sort, even though potentially temporary such as PPD, will effect this mother for the rest of her life. For the rest of her life she will have to deal with the knowledge that she went over the edge and drowned her children. She may need to be locked up as she will be a danger to herself, but her mental illness would probably not be a threat to the general public.
The final crime that needs to be mentioned is done by those who have absolutely no conscience. There is nothing that you can do to help a person like that but to lock them up for good (or use the death penalty...but I won't get into my views on that). Most serial killers start by torturing animals. Then they move on step by step until they commit murder. It is a high for them to get away with a murder, so they continue doing it. Their only hope is a true miracle, and they are rare. If we stopped them at the first point of torturing animals, there may be some hope. But psychologists even disagree on that.
How do we fix it? I don't think we can. Civilizations have been dealing with issues of this sort for thousands of years. But we need to start by showing loving discipline to our children while they are young, and teaching them right from wrong from the onset. Also, parents need to be more involved with the lives of their children. Too many children are raising themselves because mom and dad are busy doing their own thing. Now please understand, all blame isn't on the parents. I know one couple who had 2 children...one of the children could be disciplined just by the parents saying "I can't believe you could be so naughty!" If they said that same line to the other child, they would have been laughed at by the child.
Okay, the pulpit is now available for the next person!
Thanks for letting me rant a bit.
First, you cannot lump all prisoners together. A person who drives drunk and kills someone in an accident has the potential for rehab while in prison. The time served in prison forces them to be apart from society until a safe enough amount of time has passed by for the 'average' person to have realized what they did was wrong and learn from their mistakes.
You then have people who have compulsions. They have no control over a desire that is a crime against another person. They know what they are doing is hurting the other person but they cannot help themselves from still doing it. As a continued threat to society, these are the ones who probably should have life in prison.
You also have those who do things that are wrong due to a mental illness. I'm currently thinking of a new mother who was dealing with extreme post-partum depression and felt that the best thing she could do for her 5 children would be to kill them. A deep mental illness of this sort, even though potentially temporary such as PPD, will effect this mother for the rest of her life. For the rest of her life she will have to deal with the knowledge that she went over the edge and drowned her children. She may need to be locked up as she will be a danger to herself, but her mental illness would probably not be a threat to the general public.
The final crime that needs to be mentioned is done by those who have absolutely no conscience. There is nothing that you can do to help a person like that but to lock them up for good (or use the death penalty...but I won't get into my views on that). Most serial killers start by torturing animals. Then they move on step by step until they commit murder. It is a high for them to get away with a murder, so they continue doing it. Their only hope is a true miracle, and they are rare. If we stopped them at the first point of torturing animals, there may be some hope. But psychologists even disagree on that.
How do we fix it? I don't think we can. Civilizations have been dealing with issues of this sort for thousands of years. But we need to start by showing loving discipline to our children while they are young, and teaching them right from wrong from the onset. Also, parents need to be more involved with the lives of their children. Too many children are raising themselves because mom and dad are busy doing their own thing. Now please understand, all blame isn't on the parents. I know one couple who had 2 children...one of the children could be disciplined just by the parents saying "I can't believe you could be so naughty!" If they said that same line to the other child, they would have been laughed at by the child.
Okay, the pulpit is now available for the next person!
Thanks for letting me rant a bit.