Posted: Oct 02, 2014 3:42 pm
laklak wrote: However, it certainly isn't a clear cut win for rehabilitation versus punishment.
I see your point, but I don't consider the European system to do anything more than scratch the surface of rehabilitation. The money is just not there to deliver it. So I don't think any valid comparison between rehabilitative and punitive systems exists, because the former hasn't been delivered in a meaningful way anywhere yet.
And even if rehabilitation were to be delivered, that effects of that still have to weighed against the sort of society an individual is going back into. If the social issues of deprivation are not being tackled, then an individual returning to their old social group is going to find pressures towards criminal behaviour.
laklak wrote:Perhaps there is a subset of the population that are not good candidates for rehabilitation?
I think this is probably true, but there simply isn't the information to determine with any accuracy who those individuals are. But I concur that they probably exist.