Can Prisoners be REFORMED? - Is the Solution the PROBLEM?

Are Community Interests Served?

Naturally, most communities feels safer when dangerous criminals are behind bars.  Other communities like prisons  for different reasons. When a prison in a small Australian town of Cooma was to be closed, people protested. Why?  Because the prison provided employment for the economically struggling community.

In recent times some governments have sold their prisons to private enterpised as a cost-saving measure.  Unfortunately, more prisoners and longer sentences  are good for business. Thus, justice can become mixed up with commercialism.

All told, the fundamental questions remains:  Do prisons rehabilitate criminals?  While the answer is often negative, you may be surprised to learn that some inmates have been helped to change. Let us see how.  

A Brief Look Behind Bars

OVERCROWDIING:  Prisons  in Britain have an acute overcrowding problem, and no wonder! That land has the second highest per capita population in all of Western Europe, with 125 prisoners for every 100,000 of the population.  In Brazil, Sao Paulo's largest prison is build to hold 500 inmates. Instead, it houses 6,000.  In Russia, cells that should hold 28 inmates are housing between 90 and 110.  The problem is so severe that prisoners must sleep in shifts. In an Asian country, 13 or 14 prisoners have been crowded into a 30-square-foot cell.  Meanwhile, in Western Australia, officials have coped with a lack of space by using shipping containers to house prisoners.  

Next time: Can Prisoners Be REFORMED? - Is the Solution the PROBLEM?/VIOLENCE

From the Awake! magazine