28 November 2004

vitamins to improve criminals' behaviour?

I'm all for measures that improve society and rehabilitate criminals and if diet helps that's nice. Of course there are those who may dislike this:
"the approach is likely to be attacked by right-wing critics as allowing offenders to escape responsibility for their own crimes by blaming their diets."
But I think that the best that this will do is demonstrate that some people are not helped in their ability to make good choices by being poorly fed. I suspect that the situation would be like drinking alcohol; it has a deleterious effect on rationality and decision-making skills but there is still a degree of responsibility at two levels at least. One is the responsible to act to the best of ones ability even if capability is diminished -diminished is not the same as 'obliterated'. Another is that there may be a prior decision also; in other words, bad dietary choices are in effect choices to behave less well which would be somewhat analogous to drunk-driving issues, I suspect.
The Observer | UK News | Criminals to be fed vitamins to improve behaviour:

No comments:

Christian England? Maybe not...

I've just read an interesting blog article from Paul Kingsnorth . I've responded to it elsewhere with regard to its consideration of...