Prison Pay
When people are charged under the law with offences against society and then found guilty and must suffer the penalty imposed upon them it is just that they be expected to do so. Those who decide to flout laws that are enacted for the protection of society do so generally speaking, with free will. No one is compelled to perform illegal acts, nor to present as a harm to society.
When sociopaths conduct themselves in a manner harmful to those around them they must be given fair and just warning that their behaviour is not acceptable. The penalty of wrong-doing is a moral discipline and a physical apprehension. It is a costly one, both to the law-breaker and to society at large.
The law-breaker loses his/her independence for a specific period of time, and society pays for that incarceration.
In societies such as Canada's which are relatively wealthy and considerate of the future, there are often opportunities available to those living within prisons to learn skills which may be useful to them once their designated time has been served. It is useful to recall that it costs the Canadian taxpayer roughly $101,000 to maintain each inmate in prison annually.
Prisoners have the opportunity to sign on to a protocol leading to their correctional rehabilitation. Within those protocols there may be work programs, training and sometimes conflict management sessions. Those who sign on receive a negligible but important payment of between $5.25 and $6.90 daily.
The work programs can typically include work as mechanics, furniture makers, laundry staff and hazardous material technicians. Being taught these trades represents opportunities for the future, where skilled workers are well compensated in the outside world. The payment received enables prisoners to pay for their telephone calls, snacks, pens and papers, coffee.
Those who eschew the corrective program receive $1 daily. Parole boards take into consideration prison attitudes as factors to determine whether they will assent to early parole. Obviously those inmates who agree to take part in work programs are also agreeing to participate in their rehabilitation. Which represents Correctional Service of Canada's goal.
Now, for the first time, British Columbia prison inmates have initiated a movement to launch Canada's first prison union. The purpose of which will first and foremost be to agitate for higher wages. ConFederation Prisoners' Labour Union, Local 001 would ostensibly be tasked with representing the welfare of Canada's federal prison inmates.
In which cause a work-wage more closely resembling work-and-remuneration figures seen in open society would be offered to federal prisoners. Logically, were inmates to receive a living wage while incarcerated, it would make sense to garnishee most of it to help pay for their room and board while in prison.
Obviously, this is not quite what a union representing the interests of federal prison inmates would be aiming for. It may seem fair to many to pay people what their effort is valued at in normal society based on the theory that their pride in accomplishment would assist in turning them away from recidivism once they are discharged.
On the other hand, these are also individuals who have chosen to betray society's trust, who have committed offences against society, and whom the justice system has disciplined through a prison-sentence penalty. In the process of rehabilitation, and the exposure to a different way of earning one's livelihood than crime, is it really necessary to bribe inmates?
If an individual has a sense of personal responsibility to self and to society the recognition should be there that deviant offences come with penalties. The victims of crime remain victims with no recourse to amelioration of their pain. The offenders are not owed by society the kind of gentle treatment that such a union's demands would result in.
When sociopaths conduct themselves in a manner harmful to those around them they must be given fair and just warning that their behaviour is not acceptable. The penalty of wrong-doing is a moral discipline and a physical apprehension. It is a costly one, both to the law-breaker and to society at large.
The law-breaker loses his/her independence for a specific period of time, and society pays for that incarceration.
In societies such as Canada's which are relatively wealthy and considerate of the future, there are often opportunities available to those living within prisons to learn skills which may be useful to them once their designated time has been served. It is useful to recall that it costs the Canadian taxpayer roughly $101,000 to maintain each inmate in prison annually.
Prisoners have the opportunity to sign on to a protocol leading to their correctional rehabilitation. Within those protocols there may be work programs, training and sometimes conflict management sessions. Those who sign on receive a negligible but important payment of between $5.25 and $6.90 daily.
The work programs can typically include work as mechanics, furniture makers, laundry staff and hazardous material technicians. Being taught these trades represents opportunities for the future, where skilled workers are well compensated in the outside world. The payment received enables prisoners to pay for their telephone calls, snacks, pens and papers, coffee.
Those who eschew the corrective program receive $1 daily. Parole boards take into consideration prison attitudes as factors to determine whether they will assent to early parole. Obviously those inmates who agree to take part in work programs are also agreeing to participate in their rehabilitation. Which represents Correctional Service of Canada's goal.
Now, for the first time, British Columbia prison inmates have initiated a movement to launch Canada's first prison union. The purpose of which will first and foremost be to agitate for higher wages. ConFederation Prisoners' Labour Union, Local 001 would ostensibly be tasked with representing the welfare of Canada's federal prison inmates.
In which cause a work-wage more closely resembling work-and-remuneration figures seen in open society would be offered to federal prisoners. Logically, were inmates to receive a living wage while incarcerated, it would make sense to garnishee most of it to help pay for their room and board while in prison.
Obviously, this is not quite what a union representing the interests of federal prison inmates would be aiming for. It may seem fair to many to pay people what their effort is valued at in normal society based on the theory that their pride in accomplishment would assist in turning them away from recidivism once they are discharged.
On the other hand, these are also individuals who have chosen to betray society's trust, who have committed offences against society, and whom the justice system has disciplined through a prison-sentence penalty. In the process of rehabilitation, and the exposure to a different way of earning one's livelihood than crime, is it really necessary to bribe inmates?
If an individual has a sense of personal responsibility to self and to society the recognition should be there that deviant offences come with penalties. The victims of crime remain victims with no recourse to amelioration of their pain. The offenders are not owed by society the kind of gentle treatment that such a union's demands would result in.
Labels: Canada, Social-Cultural Deviations
posted by Pieface @ 6:31 PM
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