129 / What do we want to achieve with our prisons?

In Time magazine an interesting report about Halden, a prison in Norway, where criminals are treated humanely. The result? High rehabilitation rates, low recidivism.

It's not so hard to comprehend, is it. If you treat criminals well, they won't get into a spiral of hate against society and inevitably more crime. Furthermore, if you educate them, instead of just imprison them for reasons of revenge, you will give them a chance to become constructive members of the community.

So what do we want to achieve in our prisons? Do we seek revenge for the crimes that were committed, or is our priority to return criminals to the society as constructive participants? I know what I would prefer.

I've written an essay about CRIME.

Comment by Jan

Agree wholeheartedly ... as you would say, a no-brainer. This is a far more humane way of treating criminals and in the long run it makes for a happier society and doesn't waste gov't funds on keeping those out of jail who would otherwise be re-offending!