Perhaps most puzzling, when one really thinks about it, this system does not even do a good job of protecting those whom it was historically set up to serve. Because this system does little to resolve the systemic problems and instead leaves fertile ground for the generation of crime, even the wealthy are occasionally impacted by the inabilities of this system to truly protect. Doing things this way is dangerous for everyone.
These things acknowledged, the rate of violence is relatively low when compared to previous decades. For that matter, contrary to popular opinion, violence has been in general decline throughout human history. Furthermore, those who have committed serious violent crimes are very unlikely to do additional serious violent crimes after release. The rare few individuals who are very likely to repeatedly commit acts of extreme violence are fairly easy to screen out and, given the proper treatment, even these individuals have been shown to be capable of reform as well (The Violence Paradox-Nova, PBS, 2019).
Recidivism statistics among violent criminals are often used in misleading ways. In contemporary society, most people who commit a serious violent act will only do so once in their lifetimes, the length of time they spend in prison after-the-fact seems to have no impact on this. Intervention of some kind may be necessary to prevent an ongoing pattern of destructive activities, but long-term incarceration itself seems to have little value as a behavior modifier. While there are some small number of people who might remain perpetually threatening, these are not the majority of people one finds in our prisons today. These few might under very narrow circumstances merit stricter supervision than the average person who has done some harm, and they may require restrictive, but not inhumane housing.
These things appreciated, for those few who are likely to return to the same kinds of violent activities, treatment, has a demonstrable impact. In countries and states where the focus is on rehabilitation, recidivism for the same types of crimes is not only lower, it can be shown that the implementation of such programs is directly correlated to the reduction in recidivism. More generally, what is working to prevent further serious violent acts is a variety of other things tied up in our current culture. There is much less of a culture of glory associated with excessive violence in today's society at large than at other times in history, and outside of the smaller subset of so-called cultures of honor which promote violence either directly or indirectly, violent lifestyles are frowned upon. This acknowledged, US culture does, as a general rule seem to perpetuate the promotion of cultures of honor through various channels, one of these being the criminal justice system itself.
