# The Hell of Murder **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 29, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hell-of-murder/504627 "2009-07-29T01:54:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hell-of-murder/504627/41 "2009-07-29T04:46:55Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Gosh, if only the murderer had known he’d be harshly punished, he wouldn’t have done did it! > > But since we coddle criminals in this country by not torturing them to death, they just rape and kill whenever they please, and the courts can’t do a thing. Gosh, isn’t that clever, arguing against something I didn’t say. I was calling your idea ineffective and utopian. Hope that helps. Oh and gosh, OF COURSE the idea of a paid for stay for life in a cosy cell for a crack addict with a miserable life is a much more effective deterrent that the threat of pain and suffering. ---
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hell-of-murder/504627/42 "2009-07-29T05:00:41Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > What many people don’t realize is how real becoming institutionalized really is, and I think that has a lot to do with this kind of behavior. After a person has spent enough time in prison, the real world is terrifying. They have no faith in their ability to function outside of a prison setting, so they just act out in any way they like, fully aware they will end up back in prison and just as happy to do so. > > I lived with a guy when I was very young who suffered from that and when life on the street just got too hard, he robbed a bank and then went and sat on a bus bench and waited for the cops to come and get him and take him back where he felt safe and knew how to function. I agree. People like this become trapped in a life outside of civilised society and are always circling the drain in a way. I imagine that if I had to survive in the violent environment of most prisons it would warp my outlook on killing and being killed. This of course can never excuse taking an innocent girl’s life. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hell-of-murder/504627/43 "2009-07-29T06:38:44Z")
> [@Pedro](#): > > I agree. People like this become trapped in a life outside of civilised society and are always circling the drain in a way. I imagine that if I had to survive in the violent environment of most prisons it would warp my outlook on killing and being killed. This of course can never excuse taking an innocent girl’s life. You’d be amazed. The man I lived with was, in his heart, a very thoughtful, loving spirit that was like some kind of…I dunno, spirtual Bonzai. He was in prison at 17 for a $16 theft of the gas station he worked at, and ended up killing a guy who tried to rape him, so his 18 months turned into a decade. And he was jumpy and strange in really odd ways. I was absolutely not allowed to surprise or goose him, EVER. He warned me that he could turn and hurt me from pure instinct. I guess that’s so when you spend your life worrying about getting shivved all the time. I can spot cons now, it’s curious. They have a look, a way of walking, moving, and of course, a “style” that is very specific. If you want to see an amazing performance, you should see Dustin Hoffman in “Straight Time” - that came out while I was still with this guy and it was astonishing - I was sure Hoffman had been shadowing my boyfriend to prep for the role. The look, speech, walk, talk, the way he smoked, shrugged his shoulders… it was incredibly eerie. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hell-of-murder/504627/44 "2009-07-29T13:32:49Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Tier 3: For rape and murder, the punishment is death. Well, that should certainly keep the number of rape victims down. Living ones, that is, as rapists will have every incentive to kill their victims if they face no greater punishment for it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hell-of-murder/504627/45 "2009-07-29T17:59:39Z")
Really, and it’s not like the wrong people are ever are ever accused and convicted!!! ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hell-of-murder/504627/46 "2009-07-31T04:14:44Z")
If we tortured people in prison, that would just be another reason for other countries not to expedite fugitives to us. Some already won’t do it because we have the death penalty. Other civilized countries have done away with the death sentence. I think that most people who support torturing others haven’t survived terrible pain themselves. I’m talking about the kind that makes you scream. You could never wish that on anyone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hell-of-murder/504627.md?page=2)