I have worked in both

I've never been to a prison for any reason but I can say 99% of prisoners are repeat offenders, belong where they're that at and have already had a second chance.

I taught high school math in a prison for a while. Not a fun place at all.

I actually worked ( for 28 years )in a dentetion center for the criminally insane for the State of New York Office Of Mental Health as a Sergeant in the Safety and security Department. Before that I worked for The NYS State ,Drug Addiction Control Commission in a prison that housed individuals convicted of drug related crimes .I have witnessed Unbelievable cruel treatment and abuse mostly in the early years of my employment involving beatings ,straitjackets ,punishment ,mental cruelty and things I do not care to mention .If you complained you would be set up by other employees that would possibly lead to loosing your job and pension . I once wrote a detailed letter about some of the atrocities and anonymously sent it to the Director and nothing was done . I did my best over the years to treat these individuals with dignity but was often looked at negatively by other officers

No, but I’ve had experience with people coming out. I had a friend who got busted for pot who was holding down a good job when he went in. His family had to go on welfare and he spent several years costing society a lot of money whereas he would have been paying taxes if they would have left him be. My parents hired a fellow newly out of prison who stole quite a bit of money and items from them because they tried to help. There are folks who deserve what they get and others in there who never should have been put in. Your 99% might represent those who say they’re sorry, but it’s way too high for people that mean it. Having said that, there are way too many people in prison who never should have been convicted and we have way too many bad laws putting people in prison for things that don’t warrant incarceration.

My best drinking buddy spent a year in a Texas Prison. He was a gentle good natured drunk when he went in. He was really scary when he got out. I know of one instance of him trying to commit cold blooded murder. He told me that the only way to survive on the inside was to be ready to kill someone 24/7.

I tried doing some voluntary work with alcoholics in prison. Two trips was all I could handle. I have tried visiting people in jail, all that concrete and steel bars, I can't handle it. I have been in too many jails and experience too much police abuse to ever be comfortable with any of that.

I have done a little voluntary work and visited friends in treatment centers. I had no problem with that. Punishment is for inflating our ego, treatment is for making things better.

calvinism is a ridiculous trend that will end before the century is out. crime is for the most part a mental illness and rehabilitation is achieved by helping rather than punishing.

visited a friend in a mental hospital. very scary in deed

I am in the uk and have visited people in prison, played gigs in a prison and even spent time in prison for a minor misdemeanor. It is a completely different thing here than in usa.

I have never visited a prison or correctional facility, although I've worked as a computer tech for the U.S. Border Patrol in the past, and occasionally saw illegals being held in temporary cells.

Yes, there are probably abuses that go on in these facilities, and that's reprehensible. But are these abuses rampant? I haven't seen data; only anecdotal evidence. I don't know if 99% of prisoners are "sorry"; that sounds like a high percentage. If they were sorry, perhaps they wouldn't have committed the crimes that got them into prison in the first place.