Moved Thread Prisons and sentences

[Call Me Cake]

What's your view on prisons? How should a prison be?

Has any other prison in the world caught your attention?

Is Australia's prison system doing anything right? And what is it doing wrong?

Also, what are your views on sentences?

 

[Kram]

You wouldn't want to commit a crime in the state of Texas, the sentences that they give often seem excessive to say the least.

 

[Cohzee]

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/europe/091017/norway-open-prison

In summer, they can improve their backhand on the tennis court, ride a horse in the forest and hit the beach for a swim. In winter, they can go cross-country skiing or participate in the prison's ski-jumping competition.
Inmates work between 8:15 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The island is a farm, so there are cattle to tend, timber to cut and organic crops to grow. Inmates also work at a sawmill, using axes, knives and saws. Another job is to restore wooden houses dotted around the island. Based on their time in Bastoey, many men will obtain professional qualifications.
After work, inmates retreat to their homes: comfortable wooden houses shared between four to six inmates.

 

[SE_Blue]

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/europe/091017/norway-open-prison

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/07/25/277771/norway-is-safe/?mobile=nc

The recidivism rate for prisoners in Norway is around 20 percent. Meanwhile, it’s estimated that 67 percent of America’s prisoners are re-arrested and 52 percent are re-incarcerated.

Seems like it might work.

 

[EasternTiger]

My ideal prison would have a neo classical facade and Paul Bengay designed gardens. And BIG locks.

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

...it’s estimated that 67 percent of America’s prisoners are re-arrested and 52 percent are re-incarcerated.

American prisons are designed to promote recidivism.

We're starting to see the same approach here. As always, Joe Citizen will be the one that pays.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/07/25/277771/norway-is-safe/?mobile=nc



Seems like it might work.

I think one thing about that and hearing about American and even Australian prisoners who reoffend, prison is only part of the puzzle. Whether we believe them or not, a lot of them speak about their willingness to integrate themselves with normal society following their release, but being unable to land a job, because of their criminal records. Easy to say after you've been rearrested I know, but if you've got two candidates for a job and one of them has recently spent three years in the big house, which one are you going to pick?

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

Decrminalise drugs and institute a health management program and a significant level of re-offending will disappear.

It's also a hell of a lot cheaper than the current regime.

 

[cammo84]

American prisons are designed to promote recidivism.

We're starting to see the same approach here. As always, Joe Citizen will be the one that pays.

Yep, privatization will do that. Why else would they give someone 20 years for a non-violent drug crime. Companies are basically using prisoners as cheap labour. They want the prisoners to return because they are cheaper than employing Mexicans.

 

[bunsen burner]

I think one thing about that and hearing about American and even Australian prisoners who reoffend, prison is only part of the puzzle. Whether we believe them or not, a lot of them speak about their willingness to integrate themselves with normal society following their release, but being unable to land a job, because of their criminal records. Easy to say after you've been rearrested I know, but if you've got two candidates for a job and one of them has recently spent three years in the big house, which one are you going to pick?

Agree. This shits me: Person commits crime, attains criminal record, can't get job. And many people think they don't deserve a second chance. How are they meant to rehabilitate if the message they are getting is "f*** off, you made a mistake and we still won't forgive you for it, you may as well go back to crime because you have next to no chance"

<waits for peanuts to enter thread with "but they should have thought about that before they did the crime">

 

[The Prosecutor]

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2011/07/25/277771/norway-is-safe/?mobile=nc



Seems like it might work.

It would no doubt be more beneficial in reintegrating criminals back into society. One of the major reasons people re-offend is because they can't readjust to civilian life.

 

[The Prosecutor]

Decrminalise drugs and institute a health management program and a significant level of re-offending will disappear.

It's also a hell of a lot cheaper than the current regime.

So effectively, get rid of laws and there will be less criminals?

 

[Kram]

Yeah decriminalise something like Meth, I can't how that could cause any problems.

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

Yeah decriminalise something like Meth, I can't how that could cause any problems.

Acute, low-dose methamphetamine administration improves attention/information processing speed and working memory in methamphetamine-dependent individuals displaying poorer cognitive performance at baseline.

Mahoney JJ 3rd, Jackson BJ, Kalechstein AD, De la Garza R 2nd, Newton TF.

Source

Baylor College of Medicine, Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Houston, TX, United States. james.mahoney@bcm.edu

Abstract

Abstinent methamphetamine (Meth) dependent individuals demonstrate poorer performance on tests sensitive to attention/information processing speed, learning and memory, and working memory when compared to non-Meth dependent individuals. The poorer performance on these tests may contribute to the morbidity associated with Meth-dependence. In light of this, we sought to determine the effects of acute, low-dose Meth administration on attention, working memory, and verbal learning and memory in 19 non-treatment seeking, Meth-dependent individuals. Participants were predominantly male (89%), Caucasian (63%), and cigarette smokers (63%). Following a four day, drug-free washout period, participants were given a single-blind intravenous infusion of saline, followed the next day by 30 mg of Meth. A battery of neurocognitive tasks was administered before and after each infusion, and performance on measures of accuracy and reaction time were compared between conditions. While acute Meth exposure did not affect test performance for the entire sample, participants who demonstrated relatively poor performance on these tests at baseline, identified using a median split on each test, showed significant improvement on measures of attention/information processing speed and working memory when administered Meth. Improved performance was seen on the following measures of working memory: choice reaction time task (p≤0.04), a 1-back task (p≤0.01), and a 2-back task (p≤0.04). In addition, those participants demonstrating high neurocognitive performance at baseline experienced similar or decreased performance following Meth exposure. These findings suggest that acute administration of Meth may temporarily improve Meth-associated neurocognitive performance in those individuals experiencing lower cognitive performance at baseline. As a result, stimulants may serve as a successful treatment for improving cognitive functioning in those Meth-dependent individuals experiencing neurocognitive impairment.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21122811

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

Treatment with low-dose methamphetamine improves behavioral and cognitive function after severe traumatic brain injury.

Rau TF, Kothiwal AS, Rova AR, Brooks DM, Poulsen DJ.
Source

Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA.
Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Methamphetamine increases the release and blocks the reuptake of dopamine. The moderate activation of dopamine receptors may elicit neuroprotective effects. We have recently demonstrated that low doses of methamphetamine reduce neuronal loss after ischemic injury. On the basis of this finding, we hypothesized that methamphetamine could also prevent neuronal loss and improve functional behavior after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).
METHODS:

The rat lateral fluid percussion injury model was used to generate severe TBI. Three hours after injury, animals were treated with saline or methamphetamine. Neurological severity scores and foot fault assessments were used to determine whether treatment enhanced recovery after injury. The potential for methamphetamine treatment to improve cognitive function was assessed using the Morris water maze. Forty-eight hours after injury, paraffin-embedded brain sections were TUNEL stained to measure apoptotic cell death. Sections were also stained with antibody to doublecortin to quantify immature neurons within the dentate gyrus.
RESULTS:

Treatment with low-dose methamphetamine significantly reduced both behavioral and cognitive dysfunction after severe TBI. Methamphetamine-treated animals scored significantly lower on neurological severity scores and had significantly less foot faults after TBI compared with saline-treated control rats. Furthermore, methamphetamine treatment restored learning and memory function to near normal ability after TBI. At 48 hours after injury, apoptotic cell death within the hippocampus was significantly reduced, and the presence of immature neurons was significantly increased in methamphetamine-treated rats compared with saline-treated controls.
CONCLUSION:

Treatment with low-dose methamphetamine after severe TBI elicits a robust neuroprotective response resulting in significant improvements in behavioral and cognitive functions.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22847088

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

Why the Myth of the Meth-Damaged Brain May Hinder Recovery

By Maia Szalavitz Nov. 21, 2011

Methamphetamine is widely believed to cause brain damage and cognitive impairment in users. But this claim may be wildly overblown, according to a new review of the research.

In 2004, the New York Times ran a story about how meth use eats away brain cells, headlining it this way: “This Is Your Brain on Meth: A ‘Forest Fire’ of Damage.” In 2005, another Times piece about the rise in foster children taken from parents who use meth noted the “particularly potent and destructive nature” of the drug and claimed that “rehabilitation for methamphetamine often takes longer than it does for other drugs.” And the authors of a 2002 study on the brain-robbing effects of meth warned, based on their data, that the “national campaign against drugs should incorporate information about the cognitive deficits associated with methamphetamine.”

Now reviewers led by Carl Hart, associate professor of psychology at Columbia University, have examined more than 40 studies of the effects of methamphetamine, including lab research on short-term effects, brain-imaging data, and cognitive tests done on long-term meth users who had quit. (Full disclosure: Hart and I are currently writing a book together.) What they found was that the claims of meth-related harm to the brain may be as exaggerated as the hype from the ’80s and ’90s around children exposed prenatally to crack cocaine, who were foretold to end up with lifelong disabilities, or of even earlier claims that smoking pot caused insanity.

The studies on meth did find differences in both the brains and in the performance of methamphetamine users when compared to controls. And animal research has also shown that large doses of methamphetamine can cause major damage to the brain’s dopamine receptors, which are important for motivation, movement, pleasure and choice. Thus, many researchers had concluded that the drug was seriously dangerous to the brain.

But after digging into the data as a whole, Hart and his colleagues revealed a much more hopeful picture. For one thing, he says, the lab studies on the short-term effects of meth show improvements in attention, memory, information processing and learning in users. That’s not entirely surprising considering that some forms of amphetamine (DesOxyn, for example, which is pure pharmaceutical methamphetamine) are actually approved by the government to treat ADHD, and are sometimes misused by college students seeking better grades.

Secondly, Hart found that the studies that claimed methamphetamine users were less intelligent than non-users had several typical flaws. The first was that the control groups were not always appropriately matched to the methamphetamine users. “You have to compare them with people of the same level of education and same age, because age and education are both important factors for cognitive functioning,” says Hart, explaining that in some studies, the drug users had only a high school education but were being compared with college students. Obviously, that would make the high school-educated group look worse — methamphetamine or no methamphetamine.

​

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/21/why-the-myth-of-the-meth-damaged-brain-may-hinder-recovery/#ixzz2EYQ9G59X​

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

As with ANY drug, it can cause serious harm if abused and provide great assistance if utilised properly.

 

[Malifice]

As with ANY drug, it can cause serious harm if abused and provide great assistance if utilised properly.

Sweeping statement is utter bullshit.

There are many drugs that just simply kill you.

And legalized Meth?

No.

 

[Call Me Cake]

In a sense, I agree with keeping a criminal record secret, so that those who did get out and want to work, won't have a hard time adjusting to life again and won't fall back into the same problems.

With that said, a criminal record plays a big part as a deterrent to would be criminals. A criminal record is very undesirable, so removing that aspect may just make committing a crime or doing time a little less of a consequence.

Also, I too get in s**t situations where it's hard for me to obtain what I need in life, but I don't commit a crime or go into crime as a result, so I think it may just be a slap to the face of those that have never or never will commit a crime and do their best to stay within the law.

And then you have to debate about whether employers should have the right to know someone's basic history, in the sense that their whole workplace is open to this individual and don't want to risk a relapse at their own expense.

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

In a sense, I agree with keeping a criminal record secret, so that those who did get out and want to work, won't have a hard time adjusting to life again and won't fall back into the same problems.

A drug conviction usually means that a convicted person can never work with children, the elderly, the vulnerable or in the health industry, for the rest of their lives.

There are aspects of this that are in fact life sentences. Combine this with the draconian confiscation laws and it's no wonder we see high levels of recidivism. It's probably not much of a choice when a convict has a choice between mundane low paying work, unemployment or prison.

 

[cammo84]

Sweeping statement is utter bullshit.

There are many drugs that just simply kill you.

And legalized Meth?

No.

Yeah, drugs like cyanide will do that. If you're referring to illicit recreational drugs, then it is in fact you making the bullshit sweeping statements. In most cases it is either an overdose of the drug or the associated lifestyle that contributes to death. I put an overdose down to human error rather than the drug itself.

All of the main recreational drugs have a "safe" dosage level. This is assuming the drug is made in a lab by a professional chemist where the exact purity of the final product can be known. The problem in today's world is that drugs are made by amateurs in makeshift laboratories and then cut with all sorts of nasties as they are passed down through chains of dealers/distributors. If drugs were legalised and made under an Australian Standard then the drugs would be much, much safer.

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

Sweeping statement is utter bullshit.

Hilarious coming from you.

Utterly hilarious.

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

Yeah, drugs like cyanide will do that. If you're referring to illicit recreational drugs, then it is in fact you making the bullshit sweeping statements. In most cases it is either an overdose of the drug or the associated lifestyle that contributes to death. I put an overdose down to human error rather than the drug itself.

All of the main recreational drugs have a "safe" dosage level. This is assuming the drug is made in a lab by a professional chemist where the exact purity of the final product can be known. The problem in today's world is that drugs are made by amateurs in makeshift laboratories and then cut with all sorts of nasties as they are passed down through chains of dealers/distributors. If drugs were legalised and made under an Australian Standard then the drugs would be much, much safer.

It never ceases to amaze me how people automatically defer to their social conditioning once some balanced alternative evidence is tabled in a discussion.

It's a scientific paper, not a mandate to inject meth in to school kids.

 

[checkraiseulite]

And of course the disparity in recidivism rates between Norway and the US can be explained by differences in their prison/sentencing systems.

Has nothing to do with their respective social welfare/education systems and the levels of abject poverty in the states.

Harsh reality is you're basically screwed in the USA if you're poor and uneducated. Doubly so if you also happen to be Hispanic or black. Given the state of US society you'd probably have people committing crime to get into these norwegian style boutique prisons.

To solve the US's prison problem society as they know it would have to be dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up.

 

[checkraiseulite]

It never ceases to amaze me how people automatically defer to their social conditioning once some balanced alternative evidence is tabled in a discussion.

It's a scientific paper, not a mandate to inject meth in to school kids.

Tabling balanced evidence involves quoting a pdf published by the hugely respected university of Montana that you likely haven't even fully read hopelessly out of context?