Why punishing crime doesn't work

There's been a lot of talk on the news lately of what we should do about the criminal element here in toronto. Increasing minimum sentences are supposed to dissuade people from committing crimes. Politicians are using this 'tough on crime'stance to garner support.

The thing is, our criminal system doesn't work. Short of executing criminals, all you're doing by sending criminals to prison is stop them from committing crimes against the rest of us while they're there. Once they're out of prison, without proper rehabilitary steps, they'll go right back to committing more crimes.

What motivates a person to commit a crime? At the root of it, there is a feeling that the rewards outweigh the risk and/or consequences. A guy pisses me off, so my options are to either a) hit him and risk getting hurt or b) walk away and deal with the shame of not acting. I do a quick cost/benefit analysis, and then choose. A simpler example is stealing: if my perceived chances of getting caught don't outweight the benefit of having the thing I want to steal, then I'll steal.

People who commit crime do so because they lack empathy for the people they hurt. Having empathy adds to the cost of committing a crime. I'm less likely to steal from someone I feel sorry for than from someone I think will barely notice the loss.

So my solution for crime is this: increase the cost to potential criminals for committing crime by building their empathy for their victims. Make them feel that they are hurting themselves when they hurt another.

How do we go about this? Well, there's always the brain-wash route a la electro shock therapy.

Or we can build their empathy by forcing them to become a part of society via humanitarian programs. eg. make tax evaders work with underpriviledged kids; drug dealers need to assist those who run drug rehab facilities; violent criminals should be in hospitals in some limited capacity.

It's a bit of a reach - I mean, it's pretty dangerous to admit a killer into an environment where they could do serious harm. I doubt that we could accomplish this is any secure way. So perhaps the most dangerous offenders will just have to rot in prison. But the marginal criminals - the ones who have a chance at becoming members of society again - need to be worked on in a more constructive way. We can just keep building bigger prisons.

Ken