Posted by 64bowtie on November 12, 2004, at 22:23:07
Lar,
Thanx for the steady hand on the "Drugging Children" thread. However, we have a bigger problem here in California. An estimate of 70% to 80% of all prisoners (2 plus year sentences) are diagnosably "mentally ill". The prattle about is that, "Sure, someone who holds up a bank must be crazy!" ....end of intelligent discussion!
During the Reagan Administration as Governor, most all inpatient mental health was eliminated. Purpose was to save tax dollars. These abysmal institutions cost $3k to $4k per year per patient. Today, same folks go through the "crim-jus" system such that the first year is $100k, and each additional year is $40k per patient per year.
I'm not going to pretend to know if or how much therapy goes on in prison. What does happen is prisons are "incubators for craft crime". So, even when the "patients" get out, they cost society even more.
Some argue that new prisons are good for the communities they open near since the bring high paying jobs and a market for local products. The mindless expense for keeping the "bad-guys" outta sight and thus outta-mind, isn't worth the cost.
Now the State is planning three more State run men's prisons to be openned in the Central Valley. There are already 10 new men's prisons. And crime is increasing asymptotically. I submit that prisoner crime-skill levels getting better, is a large part of the increase.
I don't have a solution, exactly. I only ask the open-handed question, what do we do next?
Rod
poster:64bowtie
thread:415279
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20041105/msgs/415279.html