I think there are a number of issues that go into prison design. The glib answer is, “whatever produces the best outcomes,” but I understand that leaving it at that is profoundly unsatisfying. I don’t have the background in the domain to give a detailed answer, but I have some thoughts about things worth considering.
I generally take “unpleasant” to mean strongly “not liked” at the time. There is, however, a distinction between liking and wanting, in terms of how our brains deal with these things. For deterrence, we want the situation to be “not wanted”—how much people dislike being in jail while actually in jail is irrelevant.
It is also worth noting that both perceived degree of punishment and perceived likelihood of punishment matter.
For deterrence, we want the situation to be “not wanted”—how much people dislike being in jail while actually in jail is irrelevant.
A consequence of this that just occurred to me (and obviously, I’ve not chewed on it long so I expect there are some holes):
In some circumstances, we may make jail a stronger deterrent by making it more pleasant.
Consider, for instance, if jail time is being used to signal toughness and thereby acquire status in a given peer group. Cop shows and the like occasionally portray this kind of thing (particularly with musicians wishing to establish credibility—I think Bones did this more than once). The more prisoners are seen as abused, the stronger the signal. If prisoners are seen as pampered, that doesn’t work so well. I have no idea how much this hypothetical corresponds to reality in the first place, however, or under what circumstances this effect would dominate compared to countervailing pressures.
I think there are a number of issues that go into prison design. The glib answer is, “whatever produces the best outcomes,” but I understand that leaving it at that is profoundly unsatisfying. I don’t have the background in the domain to give a detailed answer, but I have some thoughts about things worth considering.
I generally take “unpleasant” to mean strongly “not liked” at the time. There is, however, a distinction between liking and wanting, in terms of how our brains deal with these things. For deterrence, we want the situation to be “not wanted”—how much people dislike being in jail while actually in jail is irrelevant.
It is also worth noting that both perceived degree of punishment and perceived likelihood of punishment matter.
A consequence of this that just occurred to me (and obviously, I’ve not chewed on it long so I expect there are some holes):
In some circumstances, we may make jail a stronger deterrent by making it more pleasant.
Consider, for instance, if jail time is being used to signal toughness and thereby acquire status in a given peer group. Cop shows and the like occasionally portray this kind of thing (particularly with musicians wishing to establish credibility—I think Bones did this more than once). The more prisoners are seen as abused, the stronger the signal. If prisoners are seen as pampered, that doesn’t work so well. I have no idea how much this hypothetical corresponds to reality in the first place, however, or under what circumstances this effect would dominate compared to countervailing pressures.
Slightly more glib: “Whatever produces the best outcomes for the decision maker”.
Thanks. That makes a ton of sense.