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malthrin comments on Open thread, November 2011 - Less Wrong
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I think there are a number of issues that go into prison design. The glib answer is, "whatever produces the best outcomes," but I understand that leaving it at that is profoundly unsatisfying. I don't have the background in the domain to give a detailed answer, but I have some thoughts about things worth considering.
I generally take "unpleasant" to mean strongly "not liked" at the time. There is, however, a distinction between liking and wanting, in terms of how our brains deal with these things. For deterrence, we want the situation to be "not wanted" - how much people dislike being in jail while actually in jail is irrelevant.
It is also worth noting that both perceived degree of punishment and perceived likelihood of punishment matter.
A consequence of this that just occurred to me (and obviously, I've not chewed on it long so I expect there are some holes):
In some circumstances, we may make jail a stronger deterrent by making it more pleasant.
Consider, for instance, if jail time is being used to signal toughness and thereby acquire status in a given peer group. Cop shows and the like occasionally portray this kind of thing (particularly with musicians wishing to establish credibility - I think Bones did this more than once). The more prisoners are seen as abused, the stronger the signal. If prisoners are seen as pampered, that doesn't work so well. I have no idea how much this hypothetical corresponds to reality in the first place, however, or under what circumstances this effect would dominate compared to countervailing pressures.
Slightly more glib: "Whatever produces the best outcomes for the decision maker".
Thanks. That makes a ton of sense.