There’s a problem with overcrowding in prisons right now. It’s not that we expect more crime with population growth or anything, it’s that the vast majority of prisons in Ontario have 25% more people than they’re equipped to handle.
People are “rushed out” partially due to space constraints, and yet many of the people who leave end up back in prisons.
Other countries have transformed their prisons into other facilities, so it’s not like we’ll end up with wasted buildings when we solve the underlying problems.
Because there are limited resources available, and endless studies show that providing social support reduces crime which in turn reduces the need for prisons. The underlying problem is austerity.
How long does it take for providing social support to reduce crime by more than 25%? And keep in mind that probably more is needed because when we get them down to capacity, people will be able to serve full sentences without the pressure to have them churned out)
If it’s faster than building sufficient prison capacity, by all means, I’m on board. But the longer it takes, the longer we have prisoners facing human rights violations and getting worse rehabilitation (thus increasing their chances of returning to jail later).
Even if it was faster to build prisons, that’s obviously not a solution to the problem. All it does is create a further burden on the society while providing nothing productive in return. Simply giving that money directly to people in form of basic income would be an infinitely better way of spending it.
Why is that an “or”?
There’s a problem with overcrowding in prisons right now. It’s not that we expect more crime with population growth or anything, it’s that the vast majority of prisons in Ontario have 25% more people than they’re equipped to handle.
People are “rushed out” partially due to space constraints, and yet many of the people who leave end up back in prisons.
Other countries have transformed their prisons into other facilities, so it’s not like we’ll end up with wasted buildings when we solve the underlying problems.
Because there are limited resources available, and endless studies show that providing social support reduces crime which in turn reduces the need for prisons. The underlying problem is austerity.
True. Can’t build affordable housing. Let’s build prisons instead.
How long does it take for providing social support to reduce crime by more than 25%? And keep in mind that probably more is needed because when we get them down to capacity, people will be able to serve full sentences without the pressure to have them churned out)
If it’s faster than building sufficient prison capacity, by all means, I’m on board. But the longer it takes, the longer we have prisoners facing human rights violations and getting worse rehabilitation (thus increasing their chances of returning to jail later).
Even if it was faster to build prisons, that’s obviously not a solution to the problem. All it does is create a further burden on the society while providing nothing productive in return. Simply giving that money directly to people in form of basic income would be an infinitely better way of spending it.