the inmates and there's not enough incentive for prison staff to change that system. Until society learns new attitudes and decides to hand over most of the prison system to the inmates themselves, prison reform will never work. The ultimate goal then, is a healthy, functional society that needs only a very few humane prisons, which would act as temporary holding facilities for most prisoners until they are rehabilitated. These prisons would still withhold some important freedoms, primarily the right to live and participate fully in outside society. Prisons would also still separate people from their friends, family, and lifestyle (for much of the time at least). These restrictions are enough deterrence and punishment---anything else is overkill. The bottom line is that jails are a relic of an earlier, barbaric age. They don't solve crime. Instead, they create more crime and more victims by abusing and destroying the humanity of people who've fallen (or been pushed) through the widening cracks in our disintegrating society. We should all be ashamed that we still treat these fellow humans like a bunch of animals.