I just read an excellent blog post by Bob Betzen about real crime prevention. While explaining the failure of incarceration to rehabilitate criminals, he says a line that had me almost fall out of my seat in excited agreement: He writes, “Finishing a sentence and walking out of prison is like graduating from crime school.”
Bob Betzen goes on to say that we need to intervene in the lives of at risk children before they become violent criminals. I have frequently made similar points about the need to prevent violence and victimization before an incident occurs.
What do you think?
Sunday, December 9th 2007 at 11:23 pm
Thank you for the reference Scott. It’s good to see people speaking out about the problem of excessive violence in America.
Friday, December 7th 2007 at 4:55 pm
I’ve been telling my self-defense students precisely that about the criminal (in)justice system for years. Any self-defense program should include at least some strategies for dealing with law enforcement and the court system, and finding advocates and allies.