If this cures the guy of crime. No problem. On the other hand three years prison may qualify as a first degree at the University of Crime. In which case the shorter the better. Which is why I find this whole subject difficult.Eagle wrote:Are you saying that all the violent criminals should NOT have gone to prison for many years.
Reaction seems to be run on revenge rather than what is most likely to work. It also assumes one solution will fix all. Treating leaders the same as followers, recidivists the same as first offenders.
Looking around - the countries with the most aggressive penal policies also have the highest crime. So that, by itself, doesn't work. As I said above I don't see anything that works very well. People (dare I say politicians?) who address this with certainty are kidding themselves and just adding to the crime problem.
Which is why I thought what Kon said is very useful. When you have been mugged you feel very angry, you want to explode, you want to do many things. Its an important part of coming to terms with what happened. It should not be hidden away.
However, there are many reasons why we should both encourage people to express these feelings and keep it distinct from the sentences imposed on the culprits.
PP