Reg wrote:Royal24s wrote:Unfortunately quite a lot of them can't be rehabilitated.
Apart from the whole ethical debate about prison itself, I would say that it isn't really much of a deterrent except for a small minority of would-be-criminals who might weigh up the risks before committing a crime.
Some people just grow up in that world, and see prison as an inevitable part of life.
Others didn't think about the consequences of their actions, and drift into a life of crime - and once you are in that life, it's difficult to get out of it. Once you have a criminal record your chances of a job are virtually non-existent, and it's hardly surprising that so many end up reoffending.
I think a lot of people COULD be rehabilitated, but it will never happen without huge changes in attitudes to rehabilitation and funding of it, and massive changes in society itself. none of which are likely to happen in the foreseeable future.
As it stands even the most motivated prisoners, who are determined to sort their lives out, find it incredibly difficult to find work and accommodation, which means they tend to end up back in the areas they came from, surrounded by the people they want to make a break from.
Yes you're quite right in most of that.
I've been concerned for a long time about various recent legislation which makes criminal records available to all sorts of people including employers.
In more rational and decent days you would often have occasion to make checks on a number of people, ( say for example, the employees in a shop or factory where there'd been thefts or a robbery). You would generally find at least one now respectable person with convictions years previously, and usually that was because they had reached a point when they decided to sort themselves out and yes they'd lied to get the job but were able to get away with that and so it was possible to put their past behind them.
These days they'd Nick them for obtaining the job by deception of course, and put them right back where they started. Similarly, the council or other employers don't need to know about criminal records in the same way that they shouldn't be able to check car registrations.
If there's a genuine reason they can ask the police to check it out as they used to, but still wouldn't be told the result of that usually, unless there was a pressing need for action.
Generations of politicians who don't understand or care about privacy and are far too stupid to connect this with rehabilitation have allowed all sorts of people to access records, mainly because they gather big revenues from it in one way or another.
I've tried to help lots of people "rehabilitate" over the years and used to sauce all lot, but I must tell you it's nearly impossible these days for the above reasons.
