Have you ever seen those adverts on TV where an actor is standing still but all around them, life is speeding on as if the rest of the world is on fast forward? That is what life in prison can feel like and I’d like to explore that a little today.

When I first came in here, I believed that my life, and that of my friends and family, would continue but on a parallel path and that the paths would join up again on my release. Now I’ve realised that this is not true. The reality is that my life was put on hold on my conviction whilst everyone else’s is continuing.

Every day for me is the same or, rather, there are only two days in here – weekday and weekend. Living on the outside is marked by differences and every day is different. These changes, some subtle and some major, help in moving life on. We need change and we need development in order to progress so we need to see our children getting older, we need to plan for next summer’s holiday and we eve need to see the cost of things rising.

We get none of that in here. Of course there is the hope of release but for many people that is a long way off and it’s difficult to see. These negatives are further strengthened by the routine and by the way we are bing institutionalised. We stop thinking and we stop questioning which is positively encouraged by the authorities. We simply accept what happens to us.

This is actually the main way I run into problems i prison. I question and I challenge. I don’t blindly accept and I see this as a huge strength. One example of this is to do with strip searching prisoners.

Prison officers are empowered by the prison rules to visually examine all external parts of a prisoner’s body. However, there is an SPS policy that states that the instruction “bend over or squat” should only be given “where there are grounds for suspicious that the prisoner is concealing a forbidden article around that area of the body”. It specifically states that “the examination of this area should not be a routine part of a body search.”

I am aware of this policy and if ever asked to bend over or squat, I always refer to the policy. However, other prisoners don’t question and blindly comply.

That was a slight tangent, maybe, but it’s that sleepwalking through time which makes life feel like it’s standing still. Challenge, change, progression, development – all of these things are so vital to retain humanity. To become institutionalised weakens our ability to function on release and maybe for some makes it more likely that they will reoffend.

So what’s the solution? Firstly, of course, the authorities need to want the situation to be different and change their goal of blind compliance. Once that is achieved, we need to be given the opportunity for change – kickstart the transfer system which has now ground to a halt, encourage progression to less secure conditions and facilitate movement within establishments. If we have a range of options for work and personal development, we would be better able to contribute to our communities when we rejoin them rather than struggle to catch up.

Actually, it wouldn’t be that difficult and it need not be costly. All it would take is a change of attitude from all parties.

NaN.