Penal reform fails because society blames human nature instead of social conditions.

Evidence

So long as the social consciousness is not in a position to comprehend and act upon the necessary connection between a progressive penal program and progress in general, any project for penal reform can have but doubtful success, and failures will be attributed to the inherent wickedness of human nature rather than to the social system. The inevitable consequence is a return to the pessimistic doctrine that man’s evil nature can be tamed only by depressing the prison standard below that of the lowest free classes. The futility of severe punishment and cruel treatment may be proven a thousand times, but so long as society is unable to solve its social problems, repression, the easy way out, will always be accepted. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 256

Categorization

• XREF: Directly echoes the reader’s prior highlight that failed penal reform collapses back into harsher punishment.
• DEEPTHINKING: A compressed argument that humanitarian punishment is structurally impossible without prior social transformation — worth sitting with.