Criminology and criminal justice system

"According to the White Paper justice for All, the Government has succeeded in increasing prison capacity by 18 per cent, and has improved conditions inside prisons. £20 million has been invested to boost prisoners' learning facilities, and a further £42 million has been invested in improvement of prison healthcare facilities. Moreover, the criminal justice Act 2003 includes new provisions and fresh schemes, designed to introduce a series of new, innovative custodial sentences. But when all is said and done, does prison work?" Discuss.

Over the last decade the prison population in the UK has increased dramatically, by over 70% . As a result, the spending on the prison system has recently been considerably boosted, a minimum the government can do to try to at least cope with the constant overcrowding. As more people are sent to prison to serve longer than ever sentences, so should the evidence in favour of prison be stronger, more foolproof by the day, for the sake of the 73,075 human beings in jail in 2004 , to justify for the £2.5bn spent each year on locking them up, to prove the 200 years we have spent developing the prison system as a better alternative to deportation has not gone to waste.
Prison today is a form of punishment involving the deprivation of some of the most basic human rights, such as liberty and autonomy. In many countries, including Britain, it is the most severe penalty available to the Court. However, contrary to the widespread belief among lay people as well as scholars, the data supporting the use of prison remains ultimately unconvincing.
As a punishment its main goals revolve around suppressing undesired behaviours; to reduce crime, through deterrence, rehabilitation and incapacitation, as penology would have it. It is also an instrument of retribution, a way for society to express its disapproval at the conduct of the offender. To measure the prison system's effectiveness each aim will be looked at; its theoretical basis, the evidence supporting or undermining it, to determine on a balance of probability the effect prison has in practice as well as the effect it could have if the government persisted in its recent increase of the prison system's resources .
The issue of prison has both individual and societal aspects; it is about how to best deal with offenders or potential offenders while keeping in mind what society as a whole wants or requires. Where divergence appear the issue of cost-effectiveness, in monetary and humanitarian terms, may help find the correct balance, notwithstanding that in a democracy the best interest of the greater number may sometimes legitimately prevail over individual needs.