The city of Victoria, British Columbia, is taking a new approach to handling drunken, out-of-control revelers causing trouble in public places. The police hand such people lollipops. Councillor Charlayne Thornton-Joe explained why it works:
Link -via The Hairpin | Photo (unrelated) via Flickr user Cillian Storm used under Creative Commons license
Ms. Thornton-Joe said after the men popped a lolly in their mouths, their nasty energy all but dissolved. “They got calmer after taking the lollipops,” she said. “It had an immediate effect.” [...]
The sucker punch works for several reasons, she said. First, it's difficult to yell while sucking a lollipop.
Altercations happen due to verbal exchanges, but with a sucker in the mouth, there's less talk, which results in fewer fights.
The lollipop's sugar hit calms those who've drank too much, she said. And the lolly's pacifier effect can't be denied.
Link -via The Hairpin | Photo (unrelated) via Flickr user Cillian Storm used under Creative Commons license
"We would rather not do this to you; but you leave us little choice. We love and respect each other, and therefor we cannot allow ourselves to steal from or murder each other. We will happily release you from confinement upon sufficiently demonstrating equal respect for us as we have shown for you. We all look forward to that fine day."
This gives the criminal nothing to cling to as representing a conflict between the 'criminal' and the 'society'. Even as by definition a criminal is one who is disobedient to the impositions of a society. It should be recognized by all that the Law is no more than our attempt at keeping ourselves in order, and not a net for catching inherently evil-doers. We should not therefor say (or imply) that the "criminal" is a "bad"-person, only that we cannot accept their behaviour for the obvious reasons.
We see the way egos grow dependent on sports teams, and how those egos erupt when their team loses. This is the nature of conflict generally, so this approach avoids the dynamics by focusing on the attitude of the society. The society is one "team" whose aim should be conflict-resolution and not conflict-perpetuation in the form of categorizing and condemning. There should be no "repeat offenders" or "career criminals" if once inside the "justice system" they find no further encouragement to violate the statutes of the society. They should become aware of their place at once and with the utmost certainty. In short: they should become wise.
That's it, I'll /endrant.
If you read Ryan's quote, you'll see that it answers the very counter-point you raise. To wit, the end of Mr. Darrow's first paragraph:
"We will happily release you from confinement upon sufficiently demonstrating equal respect for us as we have shown for you. We all look forward to that fine day."
Should Breivik indeed be irredeemable and unreformable, then he will not be allowed back into society. However, I surely hope you would agree that Breivik is a rare case.
jpbrody
After having watched a documentary called "Dahrma Brothers" about a voluntary, grueling 12-day meditation program for death row prisoners, I am inclined to agree with you to a certain extent. "Compassion" and "coddling" are not necessarily the same thing.
Agreed.