Legal and prison reform is the way forward. I think the concept of community service should be expanded into a fully grown work programme by closer links to industry which with a bit of research could allow prisoners to a) make a contribution to the society they have damaged and/or make reparation to the people of families of the people they have harmed and b) give prisoners the opportunity to productively learn new skills and provide for their own families whilst they are inside and when they leave.
We have tens of thousands of people sat on their arses and getting up to no good in prison and it is a huge waste of resource and a drain on the economy, so surely we are capable of working out a way to make them productive for the benefit of society?
Work and prison is an old concept, but breaking rocks doesn't do anything significant, so the Government needs to be smarter about it and develop a full work programme where legitimate businesses could be set up in prisons utilising skills that inmates may have, providing training and perhaps a trade to those who don't and making them all work a forty hour week and have their share of the rewards either saved for them for when they get out or paid as recompense to the victims of their crimes. I can think of loads of things that could be done ranging from manufacturing products for sale, growing their own food, taking on low skill labour jobs on a piece work basis, filling labour shortages, sorting waste for recycling, etc. Some prisoners have skills that could allow them to do and train others to do - but instead of doing training and getting qualifications in isolation (which society is currently paying for) it would have to be done in conjunction with producing something of benefit.
All this could be done providing prisoners are risk assessed, don't have access to weapons, and fully and continuously monitored, and the jobs themselves are fair and reasonable activities with a tangible end product that would give them pride in what they are achieving and a share of the income.
Requires a lot of thought, investment which will be repaid, and strict control.
If rehabilitation is ever going to work, it has to be realistic and that includes the work environment and the opportunity to develop skills useful to society.
Such a plan has numerous benefits if it can be executed correctly and safely - benefits for society, reduction in the cost of the prison system, reduction of wasted resources, and an opportunity for prisoners to get a life instead of sitting around and waiting out their time before they are released to go out and reoffend. Closer links between industry and the prison system could be a route into a job once they leave mirroring the current links with Universities but with a higher burden of proof.
And in the real world there are jobs that everyone can do, even sick notes so the system needs to ensure that nobody can swing the lead and the rewards for effort are an incentive to do it and not contributing/participating has disincentives.
The entire system has to be and be seen to be fair and meritocratised.
The key difference is that all prisoners should be forced to work as part of their sentence rather than a few "having the opportunity" to work as is currently the case.
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