you're simply wrong if you locate the root cause of recidivism in prison being easy. My point, sarcastically made, is that very few people who actually have experience in a prison (visiting or residing) will tell you it's easy. Some prisons maybe are (relatively speaking), but many or most are not. <div>
</div><div>The idea that prison is cushy is a product of pop culture rather than fact (as is the idea that it's a never ending wasteland of rape and violence). The truth is somewhere in between. A prisoner has almost no personal freedom (as it should be), though from television you'd think they were wandering around sipping mai tais. The incarcerated population itself makes prison life difficult. A large percentage of prisoners have mental illnesses and infectious diseases. That's unsurprising considering the folks that you're dealing with, but it's made worse by communal living. Depending on the location and the security level of the prison, prisoners may have privileges like television, radio, etc. But they are less easily available than you would think, especially in maximum security prisons, and are often used to keep prisoners complacent. As for educational facilities, those are often reserved for prisoners who follow the rules and are designed to
preventrecidivism. </div><div><div>
</div><div>Now, here is where you're right:
<div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
<div><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">For some, it's a right of passage that should be fixed in their mindset...</span></div><div></div>
</span></div><div>That very fact underscores how recidivism in the United States is a complex social issue. In many communities the economic opportunities and social structures that make criminal life less likely are broken, and people will commit crimes even after a prison sentence--even after a harsh prison sentence--simply because they don't know of another way of life. (Since you're in Nashville, are you more likely to go to prison if you grew up on Trinity Lane or Belle Meade Boulevard?) Recidivism is a cultural problem as much as it is a problem of the right incentives and deterrents<em style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">vis[/i]<span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">-à-</span><em style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">vis prison. Another illustration: the U.S. has a much higher prison population per capita than does Europe (where prison is often much easier than in the U.S.), but also much higher crime rates. More/tougher prisons by themselves don't necessarily reduce crime. There are a host of social forces in play. None of this, of course, takes away from the personal responsibility of any given criminal.[/i]</div><div><em style="font-style: normal; line-height: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">
[/i]</div><div><span style="line-height: 16px;">To make it sports related--how about prison rodeo?</span></div> </div> </div>
