Updates from December, 2009 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Nathan Murphy 2:45 pm on March 12, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Prisoner self management 

    It is possible to enable prisoners to manage their own time, attend lessons and other appointments on their own accord while measuring how well they do so.

    A Prison and Prison System using cell and door locking designs that enable self management and monitoring of prisoners day to day lives can enable different prisoners to have different routines and liberties.

    The following image shows how a prisoners day could be organised with evening and morning association able to be very limited, or completely open depending on a prisoner’s earned liberty. Throughout the day prisoners ideally should be kept busy with educational activities which could range from learning to read to CBT.

    Depending on when prisoners are allowed to get up, breakfast, lunch and dinner is held at fixed times. For the most liberty restricted prisoners their day has little slack with their in-cell time hugging breakfast and dinner.

    Agreed lesson & activity time tables can allow prisoners to be at their scheduled appointments at the right time, for which attendance is monitored automatically. Attendance figures can feed into determine the level of their freedom over their schedule.

     

  • Nathan Murphy 2:38 pm on December 4, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    Segregating by Prisoner Type 

    Recognising that different prisoners generally require different experiences from prison; it is necessary to determine what these main differences are. It is also generally the type of crime which led to their conviction that indicates the type of help they require.

    Drug addiction related convictions

    Addicts are likely to require rehabilitation and support to help them to stop their drug habit. Some will need to redefine who they are and what they do without drugs These people are likely to require significant support and counselling to prevent a quick return to drugs upon leaving prison.

    Violence & Sex Crimes

    People who have committed serious crimes of a violent or sexual nature need to understand the seriousness of their crime. These people also require psychiatric support to help grasp a real understanding of their crime. CBT currently carried out in prisons has been shown to work and such schemes should be continued.

    Financially motivated crime (Younger prisoners)

    These people need attitude, skills and employability development. They need to understand why the life they are leading is unsustainable. These younger prisoners generally (More …)

     

  • Nathan Murphy 2:00 pm on December 4, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    Communication Concepts 

    A communication system can be designed to increase security, improve relations between prisoners and prison management, reduce prevalence of rumours and make it easier to expose corruption and easier for prisoners to keep in touch with family and friends.

    Communication between prisoners and the outside world for obvious reasons needs to be monitored for prisoners trying to further criminal activity. There should be communication channels where easy communication with prison authorities can be achieved without the risk of prison officer interference.

    Currently prisoners are allowed access to designated telephones, access must be provided to new prisoners and any prisoner who needs to make an urgent domestic call17. Prisoners must be provided free private telephone access to the Samaritans and ‘Listener’ services provided by all prisoner designated telephones.27

    Letter pack concept

    Written correspondence could be managed through a ‘letter pack’ system. Prisoners are able to collect a letter pack, which enables them to send two letters. Letter packs are collected one at a time by the prisoner by swiping a Personal Access Tag on a dispensing machine. This will print a bar code to the envelope encoding the prisoner’s identity number; a control aimed to reduce potential trade of envelopes.

    Returning the pack for postage could be a (More …)

     

  • Nathan Murphy 1:14 pm on December 4, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    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 (More …)

     

  • Nathan Murphy 12:55 pm on December 4, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    The Prison Cluster design 

    The scale of a prison has a direct impact on the ability of the management to control, protect and rehabilitate prisoners. Following the Strageway Prison riots in 1990, Lord Woolf’s report recommended that the maximum size of a prison should be four hundred prisoners.

    Keeping prisons to a scale where prisoners can be seen and known as people rather than faces or numbers will also help prisoners feel like individuals who have ‘worth’ and matter to society; it is well known that the larger an institution the more ‘anonymous’ people can be which has direct impact on people’s behavior.

    “Big institutions are places where riots happen, and there has been no shortage of riot studies in criminal justice.” 7

    Prison cluster concept

    Prisons can be built in clusters of four or more, built on (More …)

     

  • Nathan Murphy 12:37 pm on December 4, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    Commercial prisons – revenue model concept 

    Private companies do have the potential run prisons effectively thanks to their position to create a ‘fresh’ start and work under political interference however, to ensure that the prisons are run effectively the revenue model must be dictated towards the right end.

    There is the potential for rewarding private companies based on the reduced levels of reoffending as this equates substantial amounts of government money saved.

    The following diagram represents a concept for the engagement of private companies and their payment based on results. The system would of course need to more complex, however it is a potentially robust concept to strongly encourage private companies to build and manage prisons more effectively.


    (More …)

     

  • Nathan Murphy 12:03 pm on December 4, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    Liberty Management concept 

    Liberty deprivation as the only punishment of prison is a well established standard that adheres to prisoner human rights. A system where prisoners are able to earn back some of the liberties they have lost in order to earn their way back in to society.

    Current systems, for example; in the UK, where prisoners with good behaviour, can earn a television in their cell, are generally based on an opt-in basis. These ‘opt in’ systems can be counter productive as harder prisoners are able to completely reject the system and criticise those who comply.

    If well designed such a system could be an inherent part of prison life. Prisoners can (More …)

     

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