Hello again from my prison cell. I’ve been reading quite a lot this week about prisons and have seen a couple of programmes on the subject on TV. The glaring thought that I had was that veryt few people actually know what happens behind the high walls of a prison and that, of course, is one of the reasons I wanted to do this blog – so you could be informed about what is actually happening.

Several things keep coming up and one commonly stated concern is the amount of time prisoners are locked away in their cells. It is normal in here to be locked up for 23 hours a day. Think about that for a second, it’s not an extreme example or an occasional thing, it’s normal. You may hold the opinion that serious offenders should be locked up and the key thrown away and I respect that point of view. However, there are a number of points to challenge that view. Many people detained in prisons and other secure establishments have not committed criminal offences – remember that around 20% of the prison population are on remand so have not been convicted of any criminal act. Remember, too, that there are people who are victims of wrongful convictions (it’s an estimate that 150 people every year in Scotland are wrongly convicted of a criminal offence) and also that the vast majority of prisoners will be released into the community at some point. If they are ill-treated, abused and destabilised even further in custody, what will they be like on release?

It is my belief that “The State” has an amazing opportunity here to correct the failings of the past. Behind these walls there is a chance to identify areas for improvement and address them. There are people in here who can’t read, write, tell the time, lack basic numeracy and social skills, can’t look after themselves, have horrendous health issues, are unable to process information to enable them to make decisions and many who have no idea how to form respectful and functional relationships with other people. Unfortunately, this opportunity is being wasted because those needs are neither being identified nor addressed.

I watched Screw this week on channel 4 (how huge are those cells by the way???) and the manager identified the undercover cop by his handwriting because “everyone completes a literacy and numeracy assessment on arrival.” What a fabulous idea that is! Do you think that happens? Nope, absolutely not!

It all boils down to what prisons are for and the SPS motto is “Unlocking potential, transforming lives.” Well, I can certainly confirm that I see lives being transformed (negatively) every day. I’m not sure I could say the same about the unlocking potential bit, though.

NaN.