I see. So instead of the SATs, we could administer a psychological test to detect antisocial tendencies. We’ll send the worst of the bunch straight to the Ivey Leagues. That will teach them.
The comparison is of course only an illustration that suggests the question: It is the right allocation of resources to support incarceration and all that it entails, or should that resource be re-balanced to suffocate the causes of crime? Hint: It is nearly always poverty. That an Ivy league school is utterly out of reach for the average inmate throws in the stark contrast the fact that the State somehow manages to find the same amount of money per head for incarceration.
The question is which cycle to you, as a society, want to feed? That is the one that will grow. Reference to the "Nordic" experience shows what a long-term shift in focus looks like.
