Quote:
Originally Posted by Cicero
.................................what?!?
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A lot of people feel better with the idea that people they don't like are being punished with a very unpleasant life. However, a certain level of unpleasantness goes beyond "teaching a lesson" and can lead to increased personality problems.
Look at it this way: if a kid steals from the cookie jar and his parents make him sit in the corner, he might think "ok, I guess stealing from the cookie jar isn't worth it." If he does the same thing and his parents beat him black and blue, he's more likely to come away with some disturbed ideas about the world. The same is true, to a lesser extent, about adults -- a guy who goes to prison for selling a bit of pot is going to be "punished" in a way that is liable to turn him into a much more dangerous criminal.