One journalist describes the zeal to put criminals behind bars as “lock-’em-up fever.”

There are four principal reasons why lawbreakers are put in prison: (1) to punish the offenders, (2) to protect society, (3) to prevent future crimes, and (4) to rehabilitate criminals, teaching them to be law-abiding and productive after their release.

But are prisons accomplishing their missions?

IN MANY cases prisons simply act as a restraint—and a temporary one at that. When a prisoner is released, has he really paid for his crime? What about the victims or their loved ones? “I am the mother of a murdered child,” pleaded Rita when the convicted killer of her 16-year-old son was released after serving only a three-year sentence. “Please stop for a moment. Think. Can you begin to imagine what this means?” As Rita’s case illustrates, tragedy often lingers long after the courts have finished their business and the headlines have faded.

This issue is of concern not only to those whose lives have been touched by crime but also to everyone else. After all, whether released prisoners have been rehabilitated or simply hardened by their experience behind bars has a direct bearing on your peace of mind if not on your very safety.

The prison system does not always quell criminal behavior. “When money is poured into building another prison cell at the expense of rebuilding a prisoner’s self-image, it is often just a prelude to more—and worse—crime,” writes Jill Smolowe in Time magazine. Peter, who has spent 14 years behind bars, would agree with that statement. “Most of my fellow inmates started off with petty crime, then they moved up to property crime, and finally they graduated to serious offenses against other humans,” he says. “For them, prisons are like trade schools. They’re going to come out worse.”

The prison crisis reaches right into your wallet. It is estimated that in the United States, for example, each prisoner costs taxpayers about $21,000 annually. Inmates over the age of 60 can cost three times that amount. In many countries public confidence in the penal system is waning for additional reasons. There are concerns about prematurely released criminals as well as offenders who manage to avoid prison sentences altogether because of some legal technicality discovered by an astute lawyer. Usually, victims do not feel sufficiently protected against further violation, and they may have little voice in the legal process.

Naturally, most communities feel safer when dangerous criminals are behind bars. Other communities like prisons for different reasons. When a prison in the small Australian town of Cooma was to be closed, people protested. Why? Because the prison provided employment for the economically struggling community.

In recent times some governments have sold their prisons to private enterprise as a cost-saving measure. Unfortunately, more prisoners and longer sentences are good for business. Thus, justice can become mixed up with commercialism.

All said, the main question remains: Do prisons rehabilitate criminals?