Harsh retribution for violent crimes might feel right, but does it do more harm than good?
No one who works in prisons and secure hospitals could fail to notice recent increases in the number of inmates. My work as a forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist is with people convicted of violent crimes, and I’m acutely aware that, since 2000, the average length of a custodial sentence in England and Wales has nearly doubled. As of 2021, there were 60 people under whole-life orders (sentences with no possibility of parole), a concept introduced in the UK in 1983. These people will die in prison as punishment for their offences.
Some reading this will think, “And quite right too.” I’ve learned a great deal about people’s capacity for cruelty in my job. I understand why extreme measures, including total-life incarceration, might seem like the only answer when faced with those whose violence and brutality are unspeakable. But are we at the point where long prison sentences are in fact being used as a form of vengeance against the most serious offenders, and is this really justified?
