Ensuring that dangerous individuals are not enjoying freedom is considered the prison's most important objective by 93 percent of the French as well, according to the Harris Interactive survey.
Ninety-one percent believe that the penitentiary system should strive to dissuade people from committing criminal acts again after their release, while 88 percent believe that the prisons' role is to dissuade the citizens in general from any criminal activities.
Eighty-one percent think that the preparation of inmates for reintroduction into the society after the release is another objective for the prisons.
The survey found that 62 percent of the French believe that none of those goals is satisfactorily reached.
The radicalization in French penitentiary system has been at the heart of prison workers' protests earlier this year, which began after a radicalized inmate injured several prison employees. In February, the government laid out a plan in response to the protests, promising 1,500 new places for radicalized inmates in isolated prison wings.
The survey was carried out online on June 18-19 among 1,171 people aged 18 and older.
