prisoners earning qualifications whilst serving their sentence

KNiVES said:
Yes they should! It is all about rehabilitation. It is in our best interest to get them to be productive, reformed members of society.

Prison should be primarily rehabilitative, and secondarily punitive. Otherwise, what is the point. I absolutely hate how the prison system the world over is designed to dehumanize and ruin you. It's wrong. People who do their time, should do so in a way that is to everyone's benefit, and not as an act of retribution or vengeance. We are better than that. Or are we?
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I agree completely. Without trying to prepare to reintegrate them in to society properly, all we are doing is letting them sit dormant until they are released and given the opportunity to re-offend. By teaching them to be a good person and giving them a set of skills that would allow the to function as part of a society in a positive way and make the kind of contribution the rest of us good folk do, we are (at least, I like to think) reducing the risk of them re-offending.

Locking them away forever is not an option, we simply don't have the space with the ever-growing number of criminals, so the only logical option is to make sure that when the criminals who have served their time in prison are inevitably released, they are released wanting to be a good person and not wanting to go out and stab the next person they see.
 
Meridian said:
It doesn't: he will be released on licence. If he re-offends, it's straight back inside for another few years.
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I'm sure that will be a comfort for the family of the next girl he murders.

I know, we don't know the facts and I actually don't have a problem with minimum tarriffs for life sentences as long as they are appropriate. But we all know that the under-funded prison service is being forced to let people out when it is totally inappropriate to do so.
 
JHeaton said:
Locking them away forever is not an option, we simply don't have the space with the ever-growing number of criminals, so the only logical option is to make sure that when the criminals who have served their time in prison are inevitably released, they are released wanting to be a good person and not wanting to go out and stab the next person they see.
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What about sending them all to Australia and taking the current Australians and re home them in different parts of the world? Seriously who would miss Australians? The only thing I'd miss is them whooping Englands arse at cricket and rugby. :P
 
scorza said:
I'm sure that will be a comfort for the family of the next girl he murders.

I know, we don't know the facts and I actually don't have a problem with minimum tarriffs for life sentences as long as they are appropriate. But we all know that the under-funded prison service is being forced to let people out when it is totally inappropriate to do so.
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Because the recidivism rate for murder is that high?

I'm actually far more concerned about the number of people being let out on bail pending prosecution who are going on to commit the same/worse crime because no attempt at changing the behaviour of these people has been attempted...
 
Freeman said:
What about sending them all to Australia and taking the current Australians and re home them in different parts of the world? Seriously who would miss Australians? The only thing I'd miss is them whooping Englands arse at cricket and rugby. :P
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Dump all our crooks way closer to where I'd like to emigrate to in the near future. Gee, thanks >.<
 
Bearing in mind that a vast majority of offenders are illiterate and/or have mental health issues, then rehabilitation and training is essential.
 
JHeaton said:
Locking them away forever is not an option, we simply don't have the space with the ever-growing number of criminals, so the only logical option is to make sure that when the criminals who have served their time in prison are inevitably released, they are released wanting to be a good person and not wanting to go out and stab the next person they see.
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Or the only logical option is to make sure that sentences are fit for the crime and killers aren't released after a handful of years. Prison isn't a deterrent at the moment, and that is what we need.

wozencl said:
We are not in possession of the full facts therefore we cannot say he should never be released. Also, judging by the age of his victim I'm going to assume the prisoner is also quite young, perhaps early twenties, do you honestly believe we should imprison people of that age for the rest of their lives?
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He served 9 years in prison, do you really think that justice has been served? People only should be released when/if they are no longer a threat to society and will abide by our rules. This clearly hasn't happened.
 
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scorza said:
I'm sure that will be a comfort for the family of the next girl he murders.

I know, we don't know the facts and I actually don't have a problem with minimum tarriffs for life sentences as long as they are appropriate. But we all know that the under-funded prison service is being forced to let people out when it is totally inappropriate to do so.
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Do we know he is going to reoffend or even that he is likely to? Unless otherwise informed I'd have to assume that the parole board had access to all relevant information and they decided that this man was no longer a danger.

BigglesPiP said:
They can get qualifications in their own time, in the day they should be sewing mail-bags to earn their keep.
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Is there really that much demand for mailbags?

Semi-rhetorical questions aside why not allow people to have a chance to learn and potentially have a useful skill that would allow them to be a constructive member of society on their release?
 
Ahleckz said:
Or the only logical option is to make sure that sentences are fit for the crime and killers aren't released after a handful of years. Prison isn't a deterrent at the moment, and that is what we need.
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Prison isn't a deterrent for the vast, vast majority of murderers full stop, even if it is mandatory lock up throw away key sentencing in horrible conditions. The general nature and motive of the crime ensures this...
 
If you come out of jail with no qualifications, what are you gonna do? Work some crappy cleaning job for minimum wage, not enough to even pay the rent? if you can even get the job, prison is looked down up. Or steal, scam and break the law?
Whats more likely to happen?

Giving a prisoner an honest chance in the real world is the best way to stop reoffenders.
 
Dolph said:
Prison isn't a deterrent for the vast, vast majority of murderers full stop, even if it is mandatory lock up throw away key sentencing in horrible conditions. The general nature and motive of the crime ensures this...
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Yes, I agree with this. However, I find it repulsive that we can release crims' after a short time but there has to be some sort of middle ground. There'll always be killers and other criminals but we need to do what we can to try and deter them. Strengthen sentencing is an easy way to do this, we should probably stop spending 31 grand a year on prisoners too...
 
I get around said:
Giving a prisoner an honest chance in the real world is the best way to stop reoffenders.
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i feel they are getting more than an honest chance, they're getting more opportunities than quite a lot of people. they probably get a better medical service than a lot of people too. i know we are a humane country (and rightly so) i just think we get our priorities extremely backwards a lot of the time
 
cm1179 said:
i feel they are getting more than an honest chance, they're getting more opportunities than quite a lot of people. they probably get a better medical service than a lot of people too. i know we are a humane country (and rightly so) i just think we get our priorities extremely backwards a lot of the time
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Aye, bet they can get a NHS Dentist easily :( *moan moan*
 
The current system seems to assume that everyone is deep down, a good person capable of living an honest way of life.

Is that true? I think some people will never be 'reformed'.
 
wozencl said:
judging by the age of his victim I'm going to assume the prisoner is also quite young, perhaps early twenties,do you honestly believe we should imprison people of that age for the rest of their lives?
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i honestly believe murderers should be sentenced to total life sentences, irrespective of there age at the time they commit the murder. & it's got nothing to do with deterrence, it's a question of justice.

a human life is a unique & precious thing, to wilfully & criminally take another human beings life is inescusable, there is no rehabilitation from death, there is no parole from death, so there should neither be parole or rehabilitation for murderers. by all means treat them humanely ( within reason ) whilst they live out there lives behind bars, but release them back into society all is forgiven?, i'm afraid not. to do so is an insult both to the victims family, and the victim themselves.
 
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