Punish with dignity

摘要

Lock them up and throw away the key. When it comes to prison, that's a common attitude in many places, including the UK and US. Politicians have long focused on "being tough on crime" - to ensure that those who are jailed are not just unable to escape their confinement, but also "feel" the punishment. Yet if we want prisoners to rehabilitate, the evidence says this strategy does not work. Such punishment usually fails to deter reoffending. On the contrary, much crime is committed by those who "go in and out" of prisons. In some UK jails, 75 per cent reoffend.