Should our prisons be less like holiday camps should they have games rooms etc Tvs in thier cells?

Question

Are we too leaniant I say prison should be prison locked away from luxsuries

I want to say Ive had a good response to this question It would be hard to choose a best answer.
Some have made me angry the do gooders of this world who think criminals can change I am 70 year old female and have seen things in my years that prove in my eyes they dont change the same people go back to jail over and over again £1000s of tax payers money is spent trying to send them on a differant path but no they want easy money they want drugs ,they stick thier fingers up to you .Your not helping .bring back national service at least that set a lot of them on the right path.

UPPITY BROAD My answer is UK prisons

Answer 1

No, inmates do not have too many fun activities within the prison walls.
To anyone who says differently, I'd like to know What prison have you been visiting? I'd like to arrange for a cherished friend to be transferred there! The top notch medical/dental care I'm always hearing about would be nice!He had a small cavity in one tooth and the answer was to pull the tooth, he needs to see a doctor to renew a prescription for a chronic condition (no, it's not a drug with any recreational potential, it's Prilosec) but can't see the doc because he is not bleeding, and when he does get that script renewed, he'll be paying for it or rather either his mom or I will be doing so. The situation has gotten so bad with prison health care that a federal judge recently ordered the whole department into recievership.
He shares a 6 x 12 cell with one other man, and counts himself lucky that there are not 3 in that cell due to the amazingly overcrowded state of the facility, he gets to leave that cell about 4 hours a day, including shower, chow, dayroom and yard time... and THAT is when the facility is not on lockdown due to drastic understaffing, courtesy of a hiring freeze imposed by the Governor...on lockdown, it really is in the cell, 24/7, food passed through the door, etc the only thing that keeps going is the mail (and by the way, I send him paper,envelopes and postage, unless it is a letter to one's attorney of record AND there is no money on one's books, the prison does not pay for letters)....the educational programs, IF an inmate qualifies AND if there is a slot available in the class.....and surely you see the need to try to educate these people to improve the chances of their becoming productive citizens upon release?
The showers are hot and reasonably clean, but inmates buy their own soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.
The food is a joke, and is barely legal in quantity and quality... most inmates get VERY creative with the top ramen that is available at the commisary...
What Gym/weight room are you talking about? My friend does an aerobic routine in his cell each morning and spends about half his time in the yard running his usual 3 to 5 miles, but there's no equipment available...I'm not complaining about that, but I'd like to know where you get your information.

As to other recreational activities, if there are video games, it has not been mentioned to me... Television in the day room where what to watch is decided by vote...any TVs or radios in the cells were not provided by the state, either the inmate or someone like me purchased them and like quarterly packages and phone calls (collect and incredibly costly) they are a privilige that is EARNED... Surely you can see the value of rewarding good behavior?

By the way, my friend is what they call a model inmate, he has had no disiplinary problems inside.
I could go on and on, but I really want to know what prison all these stereotypes of fun and games are based on, because it sure as hell is not in California!

Answer 2

Recently an elderly lady was sent to jail for not paying her council tax, as a protest against crime along her street. People end up in jail for many reasons. Once upon a time stealing bread to feed one's kids received a capital,or life sentence, so tougher isn't always fairer.
I don't personally think TV is so great, it's more of a sop to make people's life more tolerable.But I think that if I ended sharing a prison cell ,for 23hours a day with some lifetime criminal ,a bit of TV might be very welcome. Not exactly an easy ride (after 3 or 4 hours it would be more like torture), but a way to stay saner prehaps.
Maybe you're right though,I reckon a good book would be kinder . And some training ,so that people had a trade ,and an interest to help them go straight (and not be such a risk for the rest of us)

PS: I have been mugged ,stolen from, and have stopped thieves 3 times in the act. I admit that after being mugged I would have liked to hurt those cowards, but better still if the police had done something ,and been lucky and put them in jail for a while, with or without TV.

Answer 3

Because an individual is sent to prison doesn't mean they should be "Racked, Stacked, & Packed!" behind a locked door till its time to release them.

A & B Cat Prisoners are normally in their cells 23 hours a day, especially if the prison officers are in short suppy.

When it comes to cat C & D prisoners they are low risk they have to earn there privilages to gain anything and the slightest sign of a rebellious attitude their privilages are instantly removed.

Presently there are in excess of 72,000 people serving custodial sentences with around 130,000 individuals going through the system each year locked up sometimes two or three to a cell thats 7 x 10 they have their liberty removed, their dignatiy too if you want an animal returned to the streets then this is a sure way of ensuring it...

Not all prisoners are in so called holiday camps, those that are in soft jails either are serving a short sentence or are at the tail end of a lengthy sentence they are the ones that respect any luxury offered adding they too are less likely to reoffend too. its short term prisoners who are the penal systems headache.

Answer 4

Ask yourself, is the idea of prison just punishment, or should it seek to change the inmates in such a way that they will no longer wish to commit crime by the time they leave.

The issue of prison being too harsh or not harsh enough is beside the point. The point is prison should focus on reforming prisoners, educating them, teaching them right from wrong, helping them overcome any drug dependencies they have. This isn't a soft policy which makes it easy for criminals, it is a policy which will reduce crime and lead to a healthier society. Punishment alone does not change people for the better, prison should reform the prisoner.

Answer 5

No they shouldn't have bloody TV's! And yes we are too leanient. Did u know that the average prisoner has more than double the money spent on his meals compared to a school child!!!! - I mean what kind of mentality is THAT!

prisons should look like how we think they should look, ie with metal bars all over the place. But I do think they should ahve access to basic education whilst they do time and also be used to do community work.

Answer 6

prison should be a punishment but they seem to have a lot more than some people who dont break the law. for instance they dont have to pay council tax, instead my taxes pay for them to be fed, washed, entertained. that is why prisons are overcrowded. There is no detterent for the criminals. just a way of life for them as much as it is for me to get up and go to work every day. I say lock them in a room with a concrete bed and thats it. bread and water. Lets see how often they commit crime but it is down to the do gooders and human right people who say we cant do these things. Perhaps they should be burgled and see if they are as forgiving.

Answer 7

You must have had some grim Butlins style holidays as a kid. You can go for a beer, then another, then go to bed with your girlfreind. You can go for a curry or a chinese or a kebab, and to the pictures and watch a film that hasn't been censored as suitable for a nervous child.
You can sleep in a double bed at night. And have a lie in, and go for a bath or shower in privacy.
If you lock people in a small room for 23 hours a day its best to give them something to do to stop them getting violent - its called cabin fever and a couple of years of not choosing when to turn your light on and off and sleeping in a room that smells of feet and farts with 3 other blokes might drive even you to desperate acts.

Answer 8

When someone is sent to prison, it is because they've committed a crime against society. I think they should be spending their time in prison doing something productive for society. Think of the community around you and how it could benefit from some manual labor...... We used to have a camp that inmates stayed at. They would go out to work every day cutting firewood, and doing other manual labor. They were benefitting society. I don't think it's fair that some prisoners can go to school for free, while having someone make their meals for them. I work my butt off going to school part time, raising two kids and working part time. Sometimes I think I should commit a crime and go to jail.

Answer 9

Across the board, prisons are nothing like holiday camps or luxuries. The US has serious problems with inmate abuse and poor conditions. While they aren't as bad as prisons in places like Brazil or Uzbekistan. Here is a report from Human Rights Watch that addresses one facet of the problem in the US: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/prison/

For global information on prisoner abuse, here is the main site: http://hrw.org/prisons/

Answer 10

Ah. ya sure... I doubt you work there or you wouldn't be saying that! Most guards would say that anything that lessens the chance of rioting is well worth the investment... so what if they live like they're in a "country club," their freedom is DENIED to them... some, for life... and if they're on death row...
I say, give them a sense of "this is tolerable." I don't know, but seems to me, we all collectively have some culpability for letting these people "fall through the cracks" only to become the so-called "monsters" that required legal intervention after the fact of society's failure.