How do we help society reintegrate its prisoners?

I am curious what you think on the subject of prisons. Are they serving society to their fullest capacity, or should they be rethought? Do you think perhaps our approach to those we put away is wrong? Should prisons focus more on punishment or on resocialization? What are the moral implications of either stance? And, finally, how do you think the prison systems of the world should evolve, what should they strive to become in the long run?

The reason I ask is that for the most part I think, we have given up on this particular part of society. I think there is not enough public debate on the subject of how we treat those dubbed offenders/criminals, and the whole thing tends to be swept under the rug. I believe we have an obligation to at talk about this subject every once in a while, so here we go…

Discuss.