Yeah, I hear you. I think your take is correct, but I think it's simply not the entire answer. Much like the prison system doesn't encourage reform, I think JUST punishment is not enough to make a person reconsider their choices. There should definitely be some sort of encouragement in terms of genuine love, to show them that the other way of living is not just possible, but more importantly, worth it.

How much time and energy you spend on finding that line is entirely up to you. If you're running low on resources (time, energy, money, stress, whatever) then I'd definitely focus on myself. But if I'm going to go through the lengths of trying to actually help someone, then I'll have to bite the bullet and show empathy (besides discipline) to someone who might not even know what empathy looks like