Managing prisoner’s liberties
In UK prisons a privilege level scheme already exists. It is an ascending system which generally has three levels; ‘Basic level’ (Normal prison activities and privileges), ‘Standard Level’ (which may include increase in visits, association time, in-cell television or higher rates of pay) and ‘Enhanced level’ (which is generally more than standard level with priority for consideration of higher rate of pay and possibly better surroundings).12
Under other ‘earnable’ privileges this includes extra access privileges to facilities, a television inside their cell, more time outside their cell, higher rates of pay, extra and improved visits and in certain institutions and in certain situations wearing their own clothes.12
‘Good behaviour’ and ‘performance’ leads to the aforementioned privileges and is classified in a list of various examples which include; ‘effort and achievement in work and other constructive activities’, ‘non violence’, ‘non discrimination’, ‘supporting the efforts of other prisoners to engage with their sentence plans, address their offending and live more constructive lives’, ‘neatness and suitability of clothing’ and ‘cleanliness and tidiness of cells’12
Unfortunately, ultimately as an ‘opt-in’ scheme, it effectively mirrors and perhaps confirms an option of participating or not participating in lawful society.
The normal way to manage this system is to provide improvements to those prisoners who appear to be behaving, and remove privileges of those who appear not to be, the later being inherently more visible. This fact leans the system further towards being a punishment system with a quick plateau in privileges gained, meaning that the only way is down.
The management style of this system, with dramatic increases, such as in-cell televisions provides questions of its fairness and efficacy, especially in regards to the reduction of reoffending.
Liberty Management System concept:
A liberty management system furthers this reward system to a point where prisoners are able to improve their quality of life by behaving appropriately over months or years. Here, rewards, as in the real world, are hard won but easily lost. Initial basic comforts should be quick to gain and quickly lost to provide relatively instant reward for behaving appropriately and to prevent prisoners from getting to a point where they feel too far behind to bother.
The aim is to create a system continuously encourages progression by providing prisoners constant incentive to improve their standard of living.
These micro rewards and punishments can be embodied in various forms; from the control of access to areas of the prison to altering of individual’s wake-up and lock-in times.
The methods for managing such a system are invariably electronically supported and can be managed through the use of personal identifier wrist or ankle tags. For example; using these non-removable tags prisoners can self-regulate the time they shut themselves within their cells at night, and, by locking themselves in their cell within designated times frames they would be demonstrating their willingness to act as required and therefore working towards earning further liberties.
Access to various areas of a prison can be controlled by one-man access gates enabling control over each prisoner’s access liberties. This may be access to television rooms or perhaps to more comfortable and pleasant environments.
The execution of this system is well within today’s technological capabilities, this is important as new technologies in critical systems can cause systems to become outdated quickly, wasted time spent teasing out problems, issues from hitting poorly understood limitations, security deficiencies or other issues inherent in technologies that have not had time to mature.
A different experience for different prisoners
Different prisoners need different prison experiences.
It would be true to state that an prisoner imprisoned for several years for serious sexual assault and an prisoner imprisoned for three months for petty crime require a completely different prison experience in order to reduce the likelihood of recidivism.
A Liberty Management system can inherently provide a different but non-discriminatory prison experience for different prisoners. Prisoners who go to prison for short periods of time will categorically not be able to earn a comfortable or interesting lifestyle whereas prisoners who have longer sentences, where discontent and anger is likely to arise if they were to remain on very low levels of liberty, are able to earn a more comfortable standard of living.
Changing the role of prison officers
Prison Officers often spend a large percentage of their time ushering prisoners around the prison or telling prisoners where they need to be. A liberty management sytem’s basis of self management and individual responsibility using automatic penalties would significantly reduce the time required by prison officers to carry out this kind of work.
A benefit of a tag based, largely electronic system is that it reduces the ability for prisoners to grind the system down and it removes some of the micro-control Prison Officers need to have over prisoners’ situations which would help reduce some of the general disdain shown by prisoners towards prison officers.
The Prison Officer’s role is able to shift away from locking up prisoners, distributing instructions and punishments towards that of a system facilitator able to provide support for prisoners and contribute to rehabilitative work. Such facilitators should have knowledge of counselling and be motivated to help prisoners, perhaps trained to educate, as well as maintain order within the prison.
Prisoner tags
Tags can allow the facilitation of many aspects of a Liberty Management System including:
- Monitoring of prisoner location within the prison
- Locking and unlocking of an prisoner’s assigned cell
- Easier identification upon re-entry to prison
- Access control for prison areas
- Monitoring of communication by prisoners
- Controlling access to intranet, prison email, or learning accounts.
- Provide prisoners easy access to information about them or their sentence.
(Term length, access abilities, forecast, behaviour record)
A Liberty Management System;
- It is not a tool to humiliate and grind down prisoners but a progressive system which simulates the benefits of participating in society
- By maintaining a prisoners status a human being, and members of society, will help to reduce the likelihood of maltreatment or dehumanisation by prison officers
- Is not to be used to remove prisoner’s personal identity
- Should aim to remove potential merit or ’badges of honour’ for those who are poorly behaved
We do not expect prisoners to become exemplary citizens – just people who behave appropriately – a prison system should acknowledge and reflect this.
Controllable liberties
The level of an prisoner’s liberty can be reported to them on a monthly basis allowing them to know what they are entitled to and what they currently have access to. These could be automatically printed and given to the prisoner to keep for reference, or viewable on using their tags on information points. This may also include information about courses, lecture times and details of groups or activities they have subscribed to.
The liberties available for an prisoner are calculated through a point based system, negative behaviour like being late back in to their cell, or disciplinary actions will remove points, good behaviour or compliance will add points automatically over the course of time.
Liberty types:
There are three types of liberties within a prison; access liberties, comfort liberties and education. Education based liberties are encouraged and participation is rewarded, the others should be earned.
ACCESS LIBERTIES
Access liberties are generally automatically controlled and prisoner administered.
Cell lock-in times
Prisoners are required to be in their cells at a certain time. This time can be changed allowing them to spend more or less time outside their cells. The system is self administrated and once prisoners are inside their cells, they use their wrist tags to lock the door. After a specified time, prisoner’s cells will be locked using the main cell locks and prisoners will be contained until their morning opening time.
Compliance for entering and activating their cell locks in the evening or times they attend certain events can be monitored and added to their record of behaviour.
Library
Prisoners should be allowed access to a library, but the ability to remove books needs to be earned. Books can be taken out through the use of their tags. Prisoners are required to bring books back within the designated time periods or risk losing liberty points.
Prison Areas access
Access liberties are controlled using prisoner tags and by restricting their ability to move through single-person access gates. Prisoners are required to move in to the gate and by its design, and the location of the swipe area, prisoners are unable to use their own tag to give others access.
Access liberties can also prevent access to events or areas where an prisoner has been poorly behaved to prevent others from being adversely affected by their behaviour.
Quiet zones
Quiet zones are areas that are accessed by long term well behaved prisoners. These are more comfortable decorated environments with comfortable chairs, television and discreet CCTV surveillance. Such access would be the top-end of prisoner liberty reward and enables prisoners to escape the bustle of prison life.
COMFORT LIBERTIES
Comfort liberties enable prisoners to improve their standard of living. On the lowest level life is Spartan with few luxuries, as the liberties gained build up the system can provide prisoners with a reasonably comfortable standard of living.
Food quality
Uninteresting food over many years can have a strong punitive effect. However, with good behaviour, prisoners can progress to a more pleasant menu. For simplicity purposes prisoners would only have the choice of two menus (+ vegetarian option), the higher level being better in quality and variation.
Personal effects
The ability to have personal effects, photographs, posters inside their cells.
Radio/earphones
Inside the cell is access to an earphone jack with simple volume and tuning controls. With good behaviour prisoners will be able to obtain earphones, and have their radio activated enabling prisoners to listen to the radio whilst inside their cells.
Cell light brightness control
Lights are controlled to turn on and off at certain times, depending on the times defined ‘morning’ and ‘night’ time for each prisoner. However with good behaviour the light control feature in prisoners’ cells can be activated for use. This will give 3 lighting levels ranging from full brightness default to dim. It may also allow for lights to be used after normal ‘lights out’ time giving an prisoner longer to read or work.
Privacy screen
The cell concepts, as shown on this site, can be very ‘open ended’ providing little privacy to prisoners. The glass fronts have a laminated LCD screen inside and this allows the ‘turning off’ or long term turning off of its transparency providing prisoners with a greater degree of privacy.
ENCOURAGED LIBERTIES
These are educational, health based or rehabilitative liberties and are encouraged.
Classes & Lectures
Fitting in with education plans, attendance will accrue liberty points. Classes may be aimed towards life coaching, employment focused education, CBT & psychotherapy or other beneficial activities outlined in the rehabilitation section of this document.
Sports & fitness
Tag-in/out points can be placed alongside running tracks enabling prisoners to log fitness activity and they are able to accrue liberty points.
