This is just my opinion. I believe that pain is one of the human bodies most highly tuned systems. For some reason thru evolution our bodies have learned that doing things that are contrasurvival are painful. Its like magic. Grab a glowing red hot piece of metal, it hurts really really really bad, and the brain learns HEY thats not smart. Since we have the ability to reason as well, we can use this to teach. If a child criminal is codeled and patted on the back for 6-10 years every time they commit a violent crime, then when they turn 18 they commit rape or murder and are locked up for the rest of thier life, whos fault is it really? If on the other hand the finest tuned system we have is employed in a well reasoned and careful manner, could that child of come to relate violent criminal acts with pain/contrasurvival? I dont believe the prison system works very well at all.
For very bad criminals rapests murderers tortures, they are obiviously not sane. Now they can either always be not sane, so there is no way to fix them, the only real answer is to kill them because they will always be a danger to our society and little girls. OR they can be made sane, but then they would know what they did when they were insane, and that will drive them crazy again. So the only humane thing to do is kill them. Its really simple to me. If a dog bite a human it will do it again. Its not really the dogs fault, it wasnt trained that it was wrong. They cant reason. If a human attacks and harms its own kind for fun or excitement or to steal or dominate, it dropped in my mind to the level of a rabid dog. Not to be coddled or pitied, or reeducated or anything or locked up for 90 days giving 90 days dog probation and let loose with my children.
If the whole drug war was stopped, prostitution was legal. That would stop 90% of the gangs profit. I dont like drugs, but I hate the violence that comes with the inflated prices that is all the drug war causes. If they were cheap and any idiot could get as much as they wanted. Now the would still be social pariahs, and ridiculed but not IMPRISONED they children would have at least some sort of chance. It lowers the need to have gangs to protect turf to sell drugs, to sell women and children into prostition.
OK sorry enough of my rant. The word caning brought it on. It works. It has always will work, and any society that stops using pain as a teaching tool, is on the way down hill.