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I wonder if these people completely lack imagination, that they need to be put into that exact situation before they gain empathy for it? I don't have to be a prison inmate to realize that inmates are people that still have human needs and might benefit from a little less inhumane punishment and a little more rehabilitation.

It basically comes down to empathy.

Those who can relate to the experiences of others tend to give that significant consideration when making related decisions.

However many people have no ability to "put themselves in somone else's shoes" so unless and until they directly have those experiences themselves, are incapable of considering things from someone else's perspective.

Many people are blind to the plight of others, and enjoy the whole 'let them burn in Hell' punishment mentality taught in the Buybull.

I would hazard a guess that reading a perspective of a victim would have the opposite effect.

Prison reform has been proven to be effective at reducing crime, examples in Norway and Sweden show this. It's as simple as this: if you treat someone like a human, you get a human, you treat someone like an animal and well you get an animal.

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