Your backyard is a problem

I wanted to keep this to a simple comment on Greg's post, but as I went on about recidivism, I realized my comment was getting to be a small novella. As such, here's my rant on the corrections system.

First of all, I feel like I should define what I want out of a good corrections system. If you think that the only purpose of a jail should be to lock people away as punishment for breaking the law, that's one thing. Then sure, let jails and prisons be overcrowded with petty offenders. Let the system take them out of their homes and communities, their jobs and activities so that they can sit around pointlessly for a while. Let them make better connections in prisons so they can have something more "profitable" when they get back out. Please, create the next crime they're almost sure to commit.

Why is recidivism so common? Because the resources that those people need aren't provided to them. An addict is probably still an addict when he/she gets out of jail if the state chose not to spend the resources on him/her. The guy who was so down and out when he was caught the first time is no better by the time he gets out of jail if the system is no more than a long term holding tank.

A big problem comes from society's attitudes toward the people who commit crimes. Some of them surely need to be locked away for the protection of the community as a whole, but most of them don't. The harmless ones in for a long time due to the genius that was the 3 Strikes Law are only going to be more of a problem when they get out, bitter, denied education or work, the normal things that raise self esteem and break the cycle that they're in.

The problem is that the corrections system doesn't have much of a choice but to keep putting these people back out there. Know why? 'Cause we don't want them. The smartest, most economical option is to create things called halfway houses, staffed minimally by a few officers and counselors to help people get back on their feet. They get job hunt help, go out and set their lives back up in a manner which most of us would find acceptable. Halfway houses are proven.

But they drive down property values.
But most people don't want former convicts anywhere near them.
Apparently they'd rather pay for their stay in jail then their rehabilitation.

To prevent recidivism, you need resources going to people's re-education. They need the skills to create security for themselves that they used to find in crime. They need a place to go until those skills are developed. But if society won't provide for them, they certainly won't make life any easier for it.

/endrant
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