The UK prison system has wide ranging problems that are very difficult to address within the existing system.
The long-term poor management of the prison system from the ‘top down’ means that there has been little structured improvement over the past twenty years and certainly no improvement with real vision. There has been poor spread of best-practice and prisons operating independent to each other and politicians who are either too lazy or too afraid to bring change to a sector where strong unions and a change-resistive civil service can make significant change very difficult to effect.
With a 65% to 77% reoffending rate, prisons are clearly not effective enough and this in turn causes society significant problems and costs an estimated £11bn each year through the cost of reoffending. The UK prison population has been growing steadily, and as the rate of reoffence is a key driver of an increased accumulation of prisoners it is clear that something can be done better.
Rising prison populations puts stress on all parts of a system that has its budgets frequently reduced which, in turn, creates a more disaffected and lower paid work force. Prison overcrowding forces courts to hasten the early release of prisoners, and for the government to put pressure on judges to be more lenient on convicted persons.
The UK’s prison estate is generally quite old, with many being over 100 years old making them difficult for them to be restructured and reorganised to be fit for 21st century standards and incorporate up-to-date technologies.
The location of prisons and how the systems are organised can mean prisoners are being held hundreds of miles away from their town of conviction an effect that is exaggerated by over crowding meaning that to shuffle prisoners around prison managers are forced to move prisoners to any prison where there is space. This makes it very difficult for prisoner’s families and friends to visit, even more so when you consider that the majority of prisoners come from low-income backgrounds. This can have knock on cost implications where prisoners are transported hundreds of miles to attend courts or hospital appointments and adding further strain to the system.
Many UK prisons are awash with drugs and contraband, with some prisoners actually acquiring drug addictions while in prison. Significant amounts of the drugs and contraband are supplied by disaffected staff which in itself creates significant challenges for the prison system.
Prison often does nothing to properly rehabilitate prisoners and they often leave prison with more established criminal networks and with a better understanding of how to make a living illegally couple with a conviction that puts its own barriers to employment. Initiatives that do help in these areas are often seen as add-ons to the existing system making it easy for prisoners to miss out and for the initiatives to be the first to be cut first when budgetary requirements demand it.
In short, the prison systems of the UK, and many other countries require a re-think to help turn the trend of greater prison populations, the positive feedback effect this has to crime levels, and to reduce the damaging effects that rising levels of crime cause to society.
Other articles;
Protection of the public > Article about the key justification for prisons
About PrisonDesign.org > About this website
Why Prison Design > Why is the design of Prisons and Prison Systems important?
Politics of Prison Design > Political issues surrounding Prison Design
