Concerning present deterrents, Dr. Stanton E. Samenow writes: “After a taste of prison, [the criminal] may become shrewder and more cautious, but he continues his exploitative way of life and commits crimes. Recidivism [relapse into criminal behavior] statistics indicate only whether he has been careless enough to be caught [again].” In effect, then, prisons often become finishing schools for criminals, inadvertently helping them to hone their antisocial skills.​—See the box “‘Schools for Crime’?” on page 7.

[Box/​Picture on page 6, 7]

“BACK IN JAIL WITHIN TWO YEARS”

Under that headline, The Times newspaper of London, England, reported that in Britain over 70 percent of those sentenced for burglary and theft are reconvicted within two years. Many crimes are committed by drug addicts desperate for money to pay for their costly, self-destructive habit.

[Box on page 7]

“SCHOOLS FOR CRIME”?

“Prisons are schools for crime,” writes Professor John Braithwaite in the UCLA Law Review. In his book Inside the Criminal Mind, Dr. Stanton E. Samenow says that “most criminals do learn from experience,” but not what society wants them to learn. “In prison,” he writes, “a person has ample time and opportunity to learn how to be a better criminal. . . . Some in fact do become more successful criminals, immersing themselves heavily in crime but being slick enough to avoid apprehension.”

In a later chapter, Samenow states: “Imprisonment does not alter a criminal’s basic personality. Whether he is on the streets or in prison, he develops contacts, learns new tricks of the trade, and passes on a few tips of his own to others.” One young criminal said: “Incarceration has given me the credits to become a teacher of crime.”