Prisons are effectively gang boot camps. You get connected. You train. You fight. You corroborate. You learn the gang boundaries around town and basically get your full college degree in being a gangster. Of course the odd evil ‘screw’ will be mean to you and this justifies an anarchist view of the system.

Perfect means to make a criminal not rehabilitate someone.

Prisons are rife with drugs, violence and schemes being made for when ever one has that day to walk free.

I’m going to suggest criminals are put to work building recovery parks. Take 500 isolated locations around the country. Rig them up with some energy supplies and perhaps wifi and send squads up to start building.

These parks should have self sufficient cabins with gardens to be tended. A working toilet/kitchen, perhaps a TV, maybe books a radio, laptop and 2 bedrooms sensibly furnished. Then as each one is complete a person moves in with either a screw or social worker/carer/trained volunteer, perhaps a family member.

A rehabilitation program could be worked out in cooperation with the social services any relevant medical professional and also constructive input from the persons family. Given a tailor made rehab program to complete could result in a quicker release program back into society.

I would suggest instead of a jail sentence being set at a set amount of years that it be tiered depending on how resourceful the offender is in completing his rehabilitation program.

It would be a program that would fuel itself. Take perhaps the 25 most resourceful, close to the end of their time, competent in the trades type prisoners and bus them up to the highlands. Establish a park. Tell the prisoners a new way of doing things is in the pipeline. Show them slides. Get them involved.

Given such a project I think drugs and violence and repeat offending plans would massively reduce.

Of course anyone jumping ship would have to be looked up old style.

Once the parks are built to accommodate all prisoners. Why not work on nature conservation…

Once you can competently run a building site… your free to go.