General quality of life plays a role in crime rate, as does having a prison system that is invested in and doesnt feed further crime or easily allow for addiction to creep in which then needs to be fed on the outside

Likewise its not just a lust for revenge, some extreme crimes deserve severe punishment. Equally some crimes are a nonsense and dont require prison sentences

Prisons in the uk need massive reform. But its not an easy sell to spend money building new inhabitable prisons, when correlations arent explained, and the nhs and education need money