Might interest some here – a new report from the British Academy:

A Presumption Against Imprisonment: Social Order and Social Values

This report looks at the issues of crime and punishment, and why we seem unable to reduce our reliance on imprisonment. The study explores the reasons behind the high prison population in the UK, as well as offering contributions to the ongoing debate about why and how we should try to reduce both the number of people we imprison, and the length of time for which many are imprisoned.

Download full report through here

I can’t download things here at work; do they suggest any alternatives to imprisonment?

Divine Angel said:

I can’t download things here at work; do they suggest any alternatives to imprisonment?

Presumably, but I haven’t read it yet (it’s 116 pages long :)). But their general position is against imprisonment except in the most serious cases.

Bubblecar said:

Divine Angel said:

I can’t download things here at work; do they suggest any alternatives to imprisonment?

Presumably, but I haven’t read it yet (it’s 116 pages long :)). But their general position is against imprisonment except in the most serious cases.

I know an ex-court judge in Tas who was telling us that at the start of the court day, they are handed a sheet showing how many vacancies their are in prison cells around the state, and that affects the decision on penalty handed down to perpetrators

Deal with more offenders by means of financial penalties and community-based sanctions rather than incarceration

absolom

Unfortunately prison is the best option for the nastier element in our society, the welfare of the majority needs to take precedence over the welfare of the offender. If we want to be realistic we would need to completely reorganise the structure of our society and give everyone a feeling of selfworth and positive contribution to the betterment of the human race. Employment is a big plus to prevent criminal behaviour, less time to be bored and get up to mischief. Legalise all illicit drugs and the government controls their manufacture and distribution and uses the money generated to tackle those that abuse them. The illegality does nothing to prevent their use and creates a huge multi-billion dollar blackmarket were people kill each other to control it and commit crimes to buy them. In regards to domestic violence is their such thing as acceptable/tolerated levels of aggression were people don’t get locked up and instead get a community order?, thats the way it is now, if society wanted them all locked up would we be willing to pay the costs associated with it.