Why do they say punishment doesn reduce crime?
Because there are three other people there to replace the guy who is being punished. “jim goes to jail” ok, steve, tim and bob will take his spot…or whatever. Our health system and criminal system focus on the same thing, and that is not prevention. If we do not find ways to prevent more people from falling into the lifestyles that promote violence, crime, diabetes, disease, etc. Then we will never improve our country. For every person we “catch” more are there to take their place. Punishment reduces some crimes, but not in impoverished areas or high-crime areas. The economic opportunities, education opportunities and role models are simply non-existent. I watched a show on PBS about this last night (it was dealing with the health side of it) but it was very eye-opening.
