> We have a culture of revenge and shaming, rather than healing and allowing reparations.
I think you're spot-on. Revenge and shaming is a part of healing, of course, because it helps the community: 1) vent its frustration at a lawbreaker; 2) send a signal that such actions won't be tolerated. But we've gone from a "healthy amount of revenge" (so to speak) to such extreme punishments that reintegration becomes nearly impossible. To the community, someone who get 18 years for a crime must be a truly irredeemable person, right? To the imprisoned, a society that punishes him so harshly cannot be something that will welcome him back, right?
Prison sentences keep going up because recidivism is high, and the amount of crime in the U.S. is dramatically higher than in other western countries. But I think longer prison sentences make both of those things worse. Recidivism might go down if weren't nearly impossible for felons to re-integrate into society.
I think you're spot-on. Revenge and shaming is a part of healing, of course, because it helps the community: 1) vent its frustration at a lawbreaker; 2) send a signal that such actions won't be tolerated. But we've gone from a "healthy amount of revenge" (so to speak) to such extreme punishments that reintegration becomes nearly impossible. To the community, someone who get 18 years for a crime must be a truly irredeemable person, right? To the imprisoned, a society that punishes him so harshly cannot be something that will welcome him back, right?
Prison sentences keep going up because recidivism is high, and the amount of crime in the U.S. is dramatically higher than in other western countries. But I think longer prison sentences make both of those things worse. Recidivism might go down if weren't nearly impossible for felons to re-integrate into society.