I supervised quite a few lifers as a probation officer, some inside and some out on life licence. They don't sit languishing in a cell - they have work, study, group and individual therapy, skills training and so on. They move through the prison system according to a life sentence plan which is reviewed annually, internally, and periodically by the lifer board (like a parole board).
The few who have no hope of release tend to be in special hospitals like Broadmoor, with a direction from the Secretary of State that they are too dangerous to be released - that is reviewed periodically via tribunals, even with lifers like Peter Sutcliffe, who will never be released, but a tribunal could determine whether they could be returned to the prison system.
Most lifers aren't sick so don't need a cure - they need to be kept in prison for the length of time stipulated by the judge, to learn how to avoid re-offending, regulate their own behaviour and serve a sentence as punishment. It's a system that generally works effectively and lifers can be recalled back to prison if they step out of line once released. It is several years, if at all, before the supervision element of a life licence is lifted, but the licence itself is till the end of their natural life.
The only one I recalled to prison started drinking and lost his job, so he went back inside for a few months until he got his act together again. There's a mistaken assumption that people who commit murder will always be a danger to the public, which is not the case. Also, most testosterone-fuelled young criminals do grow up and learn how to keep out of trouble, or to avoid committing serious offences agai.
To experiment on prisoners is barbaric - we condemn them for their criminal acts, so it's hypocritical to subject them to such treatment against their will.
Why not look at some prison regimes online and find out what they actually do with lifers?
