The reason for prison

Originally Posted by FallDragon

Should a prison be designed to turn a criminal into an acceptable member of society again, or should it be for the purpose of punishing them for their crimes?

It really depends on the individual immate as well as they time they have to serve. For instance, someone that has to serve a few months for robbery should be "deprogrammed", so to speak. However, a serial killer shouldn't be rehabilited. There's just no point. That person should be left under the jail with no cable TV and gyms and stuff.

Originally Posted by FallDragon

And how should a prison go about trying to rehabilitate or punish them?

Rehabilitation should most definitely consist of psychological therapy. Therapy seems to help people for other stuff, so why can't it be used on prisoners? Punishing them (based on the severity of their crime) should consist of nothing to past the time. I've heard that being in solitary is the worst thing a person is made to endure.

Jam it back in, in the dark.