So we should just give them all the comforts that non-criminals have on the outside? Give me a frigging break!
No. We should incarcerate them and give them socialization skills and job training and psychological/psychiatric counseling. What good is punishing a criminal if we don't take away the reasons why they committed a crime? If we don't provide them with the tools they need to be a law-abiding productive member of society, all they're going to do is commit more crimes and cause more trouble.
While I admit that not every criminal is a nice guy and many of those in jail deserve to be there, I advocate that
not everybody who's in there deserves such a treatment.
For instance, I have a friend who was arrested for driving with a suspended license and went to county jail for 6 months. Because of that, he has a hard time finding a job, especially from corporate franchise businesses who make it a matter of policy not to hire ex-felons. That makes it more difficult for him to get a job.
So considering how much we punish criminals
after they serve their time, I can understand why many of them go back to it to make a living.
The nicer the digs? The more people are gonna try to get in. There are folks that break the law to get locked up so as not to spend a cold, starving night on the street.
So? Personally, I wouldn't mind villages out in the middle of nowhere where sociopaths and other people can be forced into staying so they can have the discipline they need. Some people just aren't able to live on their own without outside discipline and structure. A lot of people who are on drugs are like that. They can stay off of drugs if they stay in jail, but as soon as they're out on their own and away from that structure, they go back to bad habits.
That's why I advocate the making of communities that can provide that structure and discipline criminals who have served their time need to be more productive. They wouldn't be mandatory in any way and the people there can leave if they find it abusive, but otherwise the community gives them a local job. I don't know if this has ever been attempted before, but it's an idea I've had.