"Trying to pretend criminals are victims," just doesn't happen in the United States, and I'm sure it doesn't happen in Britain or anywhere. That's just a silly slogan made up to score political points - like the term "country club prison."

I worked as a U.S. government investigator for 25 years, and I visited dozens of prisons and jails. Not one of them would be a comfortable place to live, and certainly not a "country club." The money we spend on prisons, is meant to punish crime and to make it likely the prisoner will not commit a crime again. One of the best things a prison can do, is give the prisoner an education so he/she will be able to work for a living once his/her sentence is over. Allowing contact with family members, is a very good way of helping an inmate maintain ties that will sustain him upon release. If we put our efforts into "tough on crime" measures that border on cruelty, we make recidivism more likely.

-Joe-