> I am also pretty sure that no significant changes will take
>place in our life time.
>
>Wojtek
So? The world doesn't end with us.
[WS:] True, but people need to deal with the situation now, and the fact that things might be better when they are gone is no consolation. And since there are no short term solutions in sight, people fall into magic and fetishes to get at least their peace of mind. You seem to be missing that part of my argument. To reiterate - I did not argue that change is impossible, but that it will take a lot of time and effort. That explains the popularity of easy short-term approaches, such as incarceration, that is based on illusion of effectiveness rather than actual effectiveness. This btw applies to every aspect of life, not just crime and delinquency.
I also think that the realization of that would help the cause of prison reform that you support by devising a strategy of persuading the skeptical public, as well as the criminal justice system, instead of calling them names if they do not know what you do.
Wojtek