Prisoners Responsibility

Prison should not be a place to wait out the sentence ascribed.

It is a necessary solution to the problem of protecting society from those who would damage it. For high-risk prisoners there is likely nothing that can be done to rehabilitate and reintegrate and they should be isolated from society for the rest of their lives. If they can provide benefit to our society, then let them, but if we cannot be sure they will not cause serious irreversible harm we cannot release them. To do so would be to renege on the responsibility of ‘government’ to society.

A large proportion of prisoners are lower-risk and although they have caused damage to society, they have an opportunity to reintegrate and make a positive impact in the future, repairing the harm they have generated.

This reintegration should be done both inside prison and outside. Prisoners should work for the society they have damaged through ‘optional labour’ giving them skills and training they may not already have, providing recompense for their actions.

Since the end goal is not re-offense, prison should offer a place to get their feet on the ground, skill-up, and settle into work so release isn’t such a hard jump. Once out of the prison they should rejoin society and ideally make a positive impact.