21 hrs ago·edited 21 hrs agoLiked by Inquisitive Bird
re: "But Denmark, Finland and Norway are all much more similar to Norway in their rehabilitative approach than to the United States" -- typo, you meant but Denmark, Finland and Sweden, no?
I'm in Sweden. To the extent we know how to rehabilitate criminals, what we know how to do is how to rehabilitate ethnic Swedes. (And not all of them). If you would like to re-join the ranks of the law-abiding, we actually know how to instill better habits in you, and make space for you in our society, once you have repented and we can see that the repentance is sincere. This doesn't work for rehabilitating gang members, actual neo-nazis, or jihadists. You cannot rehabilitate people who at are war with society itself, or are sociopaths. This ought to be obvious to everybody, but for some reason isn't.
As surprising as it sounds to some people, prisons work. We really don’t know how to rehabilitate our most dangerous criminals, nor how to keep impulsive youths from starting down that path. So prison and effective policing are the most effective solution for the foreseeable future.
Do you buy the claim that incarceration has an after-effect of making people more likely to commit crimes once they’re released? Ie via increased connections to criminals, decreased employment opportunities, disruption of social contacts etc
Also - where do you think probation/community supervision fits in?
Suppose that we had more humane means than prisons to incapacitate criminals. Think of 24-hour electronic surveillance of convicts. We probably would be more willing to use these methods than to send people to prison, so we might reduce crime by more, no?
re: "But Denmark, Finland and Norway are all much more similar to Norway in their rehabilitative approach than to the United States" -- typo, you meant but Denmark, Finland and Sweden, no?
I'm in Sweden. To the extent we know how to rehabilitate criminals, what we know how to do is how to rehabilitate ethnic Swedes. (And not all of them). If you would like to re-join the ranks of the law-abiding, we actually know how to instill better habits in you, and make space for you in our society, once you have repented and we can see that the repentance is sincere. This doesn't work for rehabilitating gang members, actual neo-nazis, or jihadists. You cannot rehabilitate people who at are war with society itself, or are sociopaths. This ought to be obvious to everybody, but for some reason isn't.
Yes, thanks.
As surprising as it sounds to some people, prisons work. We really don’t know how to rehabilitate our most dangerous criminals, nor how to keep impulsive youths from starting down that path. So prison and effective policing are the most effective solution for the foreseeable future.
Do you buy the claim that incarceration has an after-effect of making people more likely to commit crimes once they’re released? Ie via increased connections to criminals, decreased employment opportunities, disruption of social contacts etc
Also - where do you think probation/community supervision fits in?
Suppose that we had more humane means than prisons to incapacitate criminals. Think of 24-hour electronic surveillance of convicts. We probably would be more willing to use these methods than to send people to prison, so we might reduce crime by more, no?
How about bringing back corporal punishment instead?
> “ A simple suggestion would be to greatly increase likelihood and length of incarceration as a function of previous offenses.”
How would your proposal be different from, for example, the famous 3-strikes law in California?
I don't think it would be. The 3 strikes would be great if it was actually enforced.