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posted by janrinok on Saturday May 26 2018, @03:18AM   Printer-friendly
from the think-different dept.

Monique Sedgwick, Jeffrey MacCormack, and Lance Grigg report via AlterNet

Sentencing practices for youth who engage in non-violent crimes have traditionally adopted a punitive approach--for example, ordering time in a juvenile detention centre. However, research suggests that punitive models have little impact on reducing the chances of reoffending.

In fact, punitive sentencing[PDF] can result in poor social outcomes, low rates of employment, and higher school dropout rates.

Some people suggest a more rehabilitative approach to sentencing is needed. For example, youth could be sentenced to programs that provide opportunities for developing life skills and establishing more positive relationships. This may result in increased levels of self-confidence, reducing the chance of reoffending.[PDF]

Alternate sentencing initiatives focus on fair sentencing practices that are appropriate and support the reintegration of youth back into the community.

Within the Young Offenders Branch of the Alberta government and the [Canadian] province's Assistant Deputy Minister's office, there is a movement towards alternate sentencing for youth involved in non-violent crimes. As a result, Alberta's Ministry of Justice and the faculties of education and health sciences at the University of Lethbridge have teamed up to deliver a unique program as an alternate sentence: Chess for Life.

Chess for Life is a 25-hour chess instruction program lead by longtime chess players Dr. Lance Grigg and assistants Riley Kostek and Josh Markle. Youth learn opening, middle, and end-game strategies while playing the program leaders and each other.

While the youth may not know it, they also are developing skills in reasoning, problem-solving, paying attention, planning, focusing, and decision-making.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Saturday May 26 2018, @12:10PM (1 child)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Saturday May 26 2018, @12:10PM (#684486) Journal

    One of the most infuriating and humiliating things to experience is being punished for something that is not or should not be a crime, or for which one is innocent. In such cases, all the moralizing comes across as just so much hypocrisy, and callous bureaucratic indifference and bungling seems sinister and conspiratorial. And there may well be real corruption that authorities are trying to cover up any way they can, and if that means throwing an innocent person in prison, some would do that. Heck, authorities have railroaded the innocent for less cause even than that, like for just one more item to add to their tally of criminals caught and punished, the better to impress the voters.

    The least everyone, even perps, deserve is proper attention. No person deserves to be ground up, the victim of collateral damage like a bee hive poisoned and killed by a mosquito spraying project.

    And then to have some smug, moralizing, authority loving religious pricks come in after the fact and excuse the suffering and damage with crap like that it was all part of God's plan that those bees died, they must have been sinners and deserved death or God would not have put them in harm's way, is the making of a lot more nones. These are the people who took seriously that incredibly whacked argument that 9/11 was God's punishment of America for being too tolerant of homosexuality. Evangelists align with authorities out of love and desperate wanting for an ideal, infallible authority they can obey forever, put that agenda ahead of making sure people are getting fair and just treatment. By that sort of twisted logic, Jesus himself deserved crucifixion, must have sinned terribly and made Daddy very angry.

    It's been observed that authoritarians are big into punishment, love meting out more and harsher punishment than everyone else would, to purge sinners of their sins, you know. Spare the rod, spoil the child. But they routinely go too far. They're the last people you want in positions of authority, because they will overdo the punishments if given power.

    Then there are the sadists. Authoritarians are perhaps 30% of the population. I don't know what percentage of the population could be classified as sadistic, but I should hope it's a lot less than 30%. Dishearteningly, experiments such as the Stanford prison experiment show that there's plenty of gratuitous sadism in perhaps nearly everyone.

    And disproportionate punishment, such as being threatened with a $2000 fine for one infraction of having failed to mow your lawn, is another bad one. Unfair punishment is about the fastest way to turn a person into a rebel.

    So, yeah, abundant reason to be very, very careful before trying to use harsh punishment ostensibly to correct behavior. With so many hidden and unworthy agendas driving the motivation to dish it out, the power to punish should be very carefully and gingerly handled. One of the biggest reasons for the success of the Iron Age Persian Empire was all the checks they put in place to curb punishment. Punishment should rank up there with torture.

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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday May 26 2018, @12:35PM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Saturday May 26 2018, @12:35PM (#684492) Journal

    These are the people who took seriously that incredibly whacked argument that 9/11 was God's punishment of America for being too tolerant of homosexuality.

    Video games, abortions and too many entries in schools are the most recent sins [cnn.com] added to the list.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford