Problems with Prisons

I really don't know what the solutions are but I certainly think there are a lot of issues with prisons. Now I start off by saying that I do not for a second think that all men in prison are violent and it isn't only men that are in prison but I'm going to stick with violent men to begin with. Putting a lot of violent men in the same environment is very unlikely to solve the problem of violence. I've never been in a prison so it is difficult to know exactly what it is like but they don't seem like particularly positive environments. People find ways to survive and gangs and hierarchy's seem to be a common part of this. I think it's fairly well known that prisons are not drug and alcohol free as they should be and this exacerbates the problem. It also means you have young lads going into prisons for petty crimes and actually coming out more criminalised than they started off. 

Prisons are also nothing like the real world. Now absolutely, it's meant to be a punishment, they shouldn't be living a life of luxury. But the statistics of reoffending are high and many prisoners have spoken out about how life on the inside was easier than life on the outside. They were told exactly when to do things. They didn't have to make many choices. Food was provided. Etc.

I think one of the biggest things is looking at how we categorise crimes and sentence people and I do believe the reason for committing a crime is part of this. A person stealing a loaf of bread to feed their hungry children is very different from someone stealing to take money. Someone committing a violent crime because they were a victim is very different to someone committing a crime because they are an aggressive person. I do believe that sometimes what people need is support to manage their problems, not being locked up. I've just started reading a book, now obviously it's fiction but it's about a man who lost his job, struggled with anxiety and ended up addicted to alcohol and prescription medication. Due to this there was a tragic accident in which he accidentally ran over his toddler son. He was then imprisoned for man slaughter. He hadn't intended that act. Yes his actions in the lead up were to blame but what he really needed was support with his addictions and anxiety, not to be locked up with actual criminals. There are many stories like that out there.

I think a lot more needs to be done to support people before crimes are committed. A lot of prisoners have conditions such as ADHD and a huge number are illiterate, meaning they struggle to access daily life and work. And a heck of a lot more needs to be done to support prisoners leaving prison to reduce the statistics of reoffending. It is problematic that although there is a place for things like DBS checks, it makes it very difficult for someone that has offended to do simple things to improve their life like get a job which leads to further crime. I don't know what rehabilitation is done in prisons but it certainly isn't enough or the current system doesn't appear to be working.

Now as for the issue of violent men. Why are they violent? It's an interesting question, as you've pointed out, it goes back generations. Testosterone plays it's part. But not all men are violent so what causes such a high number of them to be? Is it their life experiences, the way they grew up etc? I don't know the answer to that question. But I think a lot more work needs to be done to a) understand why violence is such a problem and so prevalent in men and b) with boys before they grow up to be violent men. I don't think things like football help. I like sport and I enjoy watching football but violence is made acceptable in it in such a bizarre way which doesn't send a great message to young boys watching it.

I do agree with you that it is a concern that a high number of people will be released including those guilty of violent crimes from a system that clearly isn't working to rehabilitate people as it is and putting them back into a world that they are not prepared to be in. As with so many things, the whole system needs an overhaul and a new one needs to be set up. But the what's and the hows, I don't know the answers to.

I agree with you about education and mental health and ND, so many people are in prison because of mental health problems and they would be far better dealt with by the mental health system than the prison system, but that needs the mental health system to be properly funded. I think a lot of people end up in prison for drug related crimes because they're self medicating, either because they don't know they could get help, they're being ignored or whats even worse is that the drugs for dealing with whatever condition they have is worse than the condition itself. Lack of life skills seem to be a problem across the board, why is that? Whats going on that people aren't learning them?

I guess we all know that if you grow up with violence in the home then you're more likely to be a domestic abuser yourself or a child abuser, a lot of the reasons for this are really complicated and theres no easy fix or one size fits all solution.

I've heard some men say that football gave them an outlet for feelings of tribalism, what they did was fairly non violent, nicking the scarf of a supporter of an opposing team and seeing as a trophy. I don't totally buy that argument, I think its easy to get caught up in something far bigger than you bargained for and to be groomed. I think football tribalism like this is an entry point for the sort of us and them mentality that infects so much of our political life and makes being in public office so dangerous for so many.

I think we need to make being a prison officer a more attractive career and probabtion too, prisoners are being locked up for to long and not given a chance for any rehabilitation because there aren't enough staff to supervise them. The same with probation staff. Criminal justice is a thorny issue politically, everybody wants crime to stop but nobody wants to put any money into it and the way its framed is confrontational too, a politician says we want to  build new prisons, or spend more on rehabilitiation and another comes along and says that will cost X amount of millions that we could be spending on helping pensioners and people who've paid they're way in society blah blah and so the problems goes on.

Its the same when people talk about respect, they say things like 'they don't have any respect anymore', but when you ask what respect is, how and why it was lost, and how to get it back people just start spluttering. I've had this conversation with some of my friends who are ex military, they say that recruits call senior officers by thier first names rather than by rank or sir. I asked how that was disrespect, if they weren't being rude, but were being polite? They couldn't really answer, except to say that they/we were brought up to call adults by title or as Sir. Thats not disrespect, that's a change in society that we dont' automatically Sir and Ma'am all over the place. I think a lot of what people called respect was fear, is that what we want to go back to? 

I agree with everything you've said there. The biggest problem is as you say, the problems aren't being dealt with at the right level and the systems we have aren't currently set up to deal with that. So many things need an over haul. I also think the education system is part of the problem. We are telling less academic kids that they are failing from such an early age and rather than playing to their strengths are trying to squash them into a hole they don't fit in. We need far more vocational based things in our education system. Maybe an increase in the life skills part of education too and some how more to deal with sexism and misogyny.

It being passed down through generations is definitely an issue as well but not an easily solved one.

It is an interesting point about prison officers. It certainly should be a more lucrative career and probably also needs far more invested in training for them, particularly the knowledge that so many prisoners are neurodiverse. But it also needs to pay well enough that it puts them off going rogue. I think it's a fairly well known fact that the prison system is corrupt and there are many officers that facilitate the smuggling of drugs etc into prisons. They make more doing that than they do following the law sadly.

Money is the route of all the problems. Mental health services don't have enough of it. Schools don't have enough of it. Prisons don't have enough of it. Cost of living is too high. I could go on....

Yes I agree about respect. There's so many things respect wise that I just think well why. And as you say it's a concept rather than an actual show of respect. I've never agreed with respect your elders. Respect should go both ways. I think you are also right about people mixing that up with fear. Violent men is certainly not new so I do not think that lack of respect is the issue. I do think as a society we have become less obedient than we used to be, in some ways that is a good thing and in others it really isn't. But a big problem with society now seems to be that no one wants to take accountability. We blame the police, we blame the government etc. Now sometimes that blame is legitimate but a huge number of people don't seem to be able to look at their own actions now and say oh I shouldn't have done that.

I agree with everything you've said there. The biggest problem is as you say, the problems aren't being dealt with at the right level and the systems we have aren't currently set up to deal with that. So many things need an over haul. I also think the education system is part of the problem. We are telling less academic kids that they are failing from such an early age and rather than playing to their strengths are trying to squash them into a hole they don't fit in. We need far more vocational based things in our education system. Maybe an increase in the life skills part of education too and some how more to deal with sexism and misogyny.

It being passed down through generations is definitely an issue as well but not an easily solved one.

It is an interesting point about prison officers. It certainly should be a more lucrative career and probably also needs far more invested in training for them, particularly the knowledge that so many prisoners are neurodiverse. But it also needs to pay well enough that it puts them off going rogue. I think it's a fairly well known fact that the prison system is corrupt and there are many officers that facilitate the smuggling of drugs etc into prisons. They make more doing that than they do following the law sadly.

Money is the route of all the problems. Mental health services don't have enough of it. Schools don't have enough of it. Prisons don't have enough of it. Cost of living is too high. I could go on....

Yes I agree about respect. There's so many things respect wise that I just think well why. And as you say it's a concept rather than an actual show of respect. I've never agreed with respect your elders. Respect should go both ways. I think you are also right about people mixing that up with fear. Violent men is certainly not new so I do not think that lack of respect is the issue. I do think as a society we have become less obedient than we used to be, in some ways that is a good thing and in others it really isn't. But a big problem with society now seems to be that no one wants to take accountability. We blame the police, we blame the government etc. Now sometimes that blame is legitimate but a huge number of people don't seem to be able to look at their own actions now and say oh I shouldn't have done that.