# FILE NAME: 00002664.soc
# TITLE: Should we be trying to reduce the number of people in prison? [d7dd05de500c7615aa85282be88590d6]
# DESCRIPTION: 
# DATA TYPE: soc
# MODIFICATION TYPE: original
# RELATES TO: 
# RELATED FILES: 
# PUBLICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# MODIFICATION DATE: 2025-10-12
# NUMBER ALTERNATIVES: 4
# NUMBER VOTERS: 5
# NUMBER UNIQUE ORDERS: 5
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 1: Statement 1 - We believe that the prison service is over-populated. The sheer volume of people in prison prevents the prison service from being able to actively focus on rehabilitation of prisoners that actually need it. Sentencing guidelines for certain crimes should be reviewed, with punishment centred around giving back to the community. Prisoners given really short sentences for petty crime do not learn their lesson from a few weeks in prison, proven by the significant rate of re-offending by these people. Alternative punishments such as community service, fines and tagging should be utilised where possible. We believe that for many crimes a custodial sentence is imposed as a punishment and to protect the public. Crime must not pay and people have to be seen to be paying for their crimes. We believe that for some crimes meaningful punishment can be work in the community or service in some other way but this has to be a punishment and a meaningful consequence for the perpetrators. We believe that short, sharp can be better than long, slow, softly, softly approaches. We believe that prison does not seem to be a disincentive to commit crime, we need to find better ways of reducing criminal activity.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 2: Statement 2 - We believe that the prison service is over-populated. The sheer volume of people in prison prevents the prison service from being able to actively focus on rehabilitation of prisoners that actually need it. Sentencing guidelines for certain crimes should be reviewed, with punishment centred around giving back to the community. Prisoners given really short sentences for petty crime do not learn their lesson from a few weeks in prison, proven by the significant rate of re-offending by these people. Alternative punishments such as community service, fines and tagging should be utilised where possible. We believe that for many crimes a custodial sentence is imposed as a punishment and to protect the public. We believe that for some crimes meaningful punishment can be work in the community or service in some other way but this has to be a punishment and a meaningful consequence for the perpetrators. We believe that short, sharp can be better than long, slow, softly, softly approaches. We believe that prison does not seem to be a disincentive to commit crime, we need to find better ways of reducing criminal activity.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 3: Statement 3 - We believe that the prison service is over-populated. The sheer volume of people in prison prevents the prison service from being able to actively focus on rehabilitation of prisoners that actually need it. Sentencing guidelines for certain crimes should be reviewed, with punishment centred around giving back to the community. Alternative punishments such as community service, fines and tagging should be utilised where possible. We believe that for many crimes a custodial sentence is imposed as a punishment and to protect the public. Crime must not pay and people have to be seen to be paying for their crimes. We believe that for some crimes meaningful punishment can be work in the community or service in some other way but this has to be a punishment and a meaningful consequence for the perpetrators. We believe that short, sharp can be better than long, slow, softly, softly approaches. We believe that prison does not seem to be a disincentive to commit crime, we need to find better ways of reducing criminal activity.
# ALTERNATIVE NAME 4: Statement 4 - There are several things that need to happen in order to reduce the prison population. First, we need to increase investment in education to provide young people with meaningful activities in which to engage and prepare them for work. This will have an immediate impact on our crime levels, as it is proven that people with more qualifications and good employment are much less likely to commit crimes. Second, we need to look at more effective alternatives to incarceration. People serving sentences of less than 12 months should be serving these in the community where they can benefit from programs such as restorative justice, community service or alternative punishments. For more serious crimes, a custodial sentence should be imposed but meaningful rehabilitation programmes should be provided to prisoners to help them prepare for life outside prison. Third, the prison population can be reduced by looking at rehabilitation programs for prisoners. Currently many prisons are filled with people with low-level mental health issues that should be provided with effective treatment in an environment such as a psychiatric hospital rather than a prison cell.
1: 4,2,1,3
1: 4,1,2,3
1: 1,2,3,4
1: 4,2,3,1
1: 3,4,1,2