> Prison has to be scary. It has to strike one as the number one place that you do not want to go. It's the other ultimate consequence, along side of death. I can't imagine this world if it wasn't.
Prison is not a deterrent. If it was, you would see prison population decline over time. Instead, it has grown quite significantly and in a racist way (black men are massively overrepresented and sent to prison).
Just because prison population is rising does not mean that people are choosing to go to prison. The criminal justice system is choosing to send more and more people to prison for offenses that would not have incurred prison time in the past.
More importantly, the people that do the Very Bad Things that we want prison to deter often do not think enough about their actions to consider the possible consequences, and also don't really think that it could happen to them.
When people don't even think consequences will ever apply to them, how can the consequence act as a deterrent?
What are the sources of these assertions? This seems like sheer speculation, or common-sensical reasoning -- do you know anyone from prison? Have you conducted some kind of psychological survey of prisoners?
I think it's likely this is not because of the prison as much as it is the laws which determine what crimes are punishable by prison sentences, and the people who enforce and judge on those laws.
Prison is not a deterrent. If it was, you would see prison population decline over time. Instead, it has grown quite significantly and in a racist way (black men are massively overrepresented and sent to prison).