Maggot, I hear you. I don't agree with you anymore, on this topic. There was a time that I did, but with the way 'society' is evolving, I personally don't think that "re-habilitation" is working.
Nor do I see the "prison is a punishment" theory working, either.
The advent of superiors stating "just give them what they want" has been a major part of the demise of acceptability.
I think you and I have similar thoughts on a number of other issues, but this one,,,,, not at all. I am not an advocate of 'wanton killing' (no chinese-food jokes, please) At the same time, I am not an advocate of "work hard, for the betterment of everyone else." There needs to be more responsibility as well as more awareness of the consequences of peoples actions. Be-it the possibility of death, or the possibility of "chain-gang incarceration including hard-labor".... then and only then will we see progress. Simply because, we ain't seeing much right now, are we?
Especially with jails being emptied, simply due to more criminals than beds... there's a problem there.