A recent crackdown on criminals in Britain has led to a slew of overcrowded prisons. As more and more people are being arrested and given extended sentences, there is increasingly less space to put them. What are the proposed answers to this problem? Overall, there are two real solutions to this problem. First of all, sentencing could be lighter. For instance, someone who might get a two year sentence could just be given a slap on the wrist. There are several people who are against this method because the punishment isn't harsh enough. However, if this many people are criminals, prison sentencing is not an effective deterrent. Another proposed idea is to build more prisons. While this may sound like common sense to some, there are many barriers in getting there. Building new prisons is known to be expensive. In addition, each prisoner that is placed in the prison is in ways, paid for. Money must be provided to feed, clothe, and watch each criminal. Where will all of this money come from? Can taxpayers really be asked to fork out more money to support prisons? If it will make them feel safer, it is a good idea, but in the long run, will it really help? Another problem that was brought up is that there are a lot of repeat offenders, so Britain's prisons aren't rehabilitating as intended. In my opinion, building more prisons isn't going to help the situation. As we all know, some people go to prison because they know they will have a roof over their heads and food in their mouths. In this sense, building more jails is enabling this type of activity. It would be more effective to have the less serious criminals under house arrest or some alternate form of punishment.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article472915.ece
No comments:
Post a Comment