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Some people feel that the existing form of the prison system in America is unjust and inhumane. Some people go even further and say that incarceration as a punishment is itself inhumane. After all, human beings are locked up in what amount to cages (i.e., the prison cells) where they have next to no privacy and have to offer complete obedience at all times to corrections officers and to ask permission for almost anything they do. An argument can be made that imprisonment is really a form of slavery, and a particularly cruel form at that since the prisoners are kept locked up.

We're not used to thinking like this. It's taken as a given in America that prison is far more humane than corporal punishment. But is it? The body heals; the mind and the soul may not. When we consider whether the prison system is humane we should look at the psychological damage caused by captivity. It's not as easy to measure as physical damage, but it may be far worse and more lasting.

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[ 07 May 2003: Message edited by: satana ]

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I think that putting the money into prevention might take care of the problem.

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First we'd need to know exactly what to spend the money on, no? We know that rich people commit crimes too, so we can't just assume that if everyone had more $$$ then crime would go away.

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I doubt that babies are born evil.

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No, but like all animals, they're born inherently selfish. Some will learn to value others as they value themselves, others won't.

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First we'd need to know exactly what to spend the money on, no? We know that rich people commit crimes too, so we can't just assume that if everyone had more $$$ then crime would go away.

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Criminals are created, I would guess by their environment and upbringing.

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