Yes, true.
So, in order to improve the system and reduce crime, you need to understand those who are currently not effectively deterred.
More of the same is not going to work if you hope to improve outcomes.
So, in order to improve the system and reduce crime, you need to understand those who are currently not effectively deterred.
More of the same is not going to work if you hope to improve outcomes.
In any case, the parent's point seemed pretty empty.
> Who's to say that the current deterred subset of the population won't begin to commit crimes if our style of punishment is changed?
This is what research is for. We may never know what is optimal in an absolute sense, but we can figure out some relative costs/benefits of different approaches to problems and choose our tradeoffs appropriately.