Reply #17: Reaching for the Easy Button

[Turbineguy]

A number of years ago there was a case in my town where a guy beat to death his 5 year old son. He had been taking "anger management therapy" whatever that means. After the hour of therapy he would return to his poor home, to the dirty dishes in the sink, TV watching wife eating chips on the couch, cranky child. The justice system finally put him out of his misery by putting him in jail.

As a society we seem to look to the justice system to cure all our ills.

In this case we are offered a choice between killing somebody (or perhaps strategically cutting off body parts) or setting them free to re-offend. It seems to me that some sort of new approach to this is called for. There has to be something outside the limits of the justice system. If to these people abusing children is fun or fulfilling, perhaps something that is even more fun and fulfilling, but benign to society could be found.

Of course, I am a machinery guy, but not every technical problem calls for a progressively bigger hammer.