Do prisons work?

Politicians of whatever party have long been firm in the assertion that prison works – indeed the most simplistic slogan to the complex problem of crime and criminality is ‘lock em up’. From Michael Howard’s claim that ‘prison works’ to the Labour mantra ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ ever since the nineties both major parties have competed to be the party of law and order.

Who can blame them? It reassures the public and acts as a bulwark to tabloid editors who on a slow news day want to paint a government as ‘soft on crime.’ It almost seems that every journalist in the country has a scare story up their sleeve of a criminal who is enjoying the life of riley at tax payers’ expense.

However we have now reached the point where we have to engage in a serious debate on the role that prison and the criminal justice system plays in society. In the past year, the prison population in this country has reached record levels standing at 86,000, a 90% increase since 1993. Each inmate costs the taxpayer on average £37,163 a year – money which no doubt could be better spent on education or health.

With the UK having the second highest incarceration rates in Western Europe and the prison estate suffering from overcrowding since 1994 – the question has to be asked does prison really work?

On one level the answer is yes. For the victim of crime and those who live in fear of it prison gets criminals off the streets, therefore reducing the risk they pose to the rest of society as they cannot commit an offence when they are locked up. Sadly, there are some individuals who pose such a threat to other people that there is no other option than to keep them under lock and key. Yet it should be remembered the rise in the prison population is not the result of more murderers, rapists or other violent offenders, but courts sentencing more offenders to prison each year between 1995 and 2002.

Taking a closer look at re-offending rates the answer to the question does prison work is less clear. For example short term prisoners are almost three times more likely to commit crime as those released from custody after serving two years or more. For offenders who have served less than 12 months, the re-offending rate stands at nearly 60%.

Of course these statistics should be balanced with the fact that between 1997 and 2010 under a Labour Government crime fell by 43% and violent crime down by 42%. It seems we were very good at locking people up but did not address the inherent problem of re-offending. That is not to denigrate that achievement but when the party was outpolling the opposition on the vital question of law and order; any moves at tackling the issues around rehabilitation would have been met with headlines that accused the government of giving criminals a free ride.

This is probably why the very real problem of high re-offending rates has not been addressed.

If government does have a duty to society to protect its citizens from criminals then this means it also has a duty to ensure that those who are released from prison do not drift back into a life of crime.

Now, with the prison population reaching almost unmanageable levels and the government intent of making cuts to resources available to prison staff, it is of the utmost importance that rehabilitation is looked at seriously.

This approach needs to begin in prisons themselves. Just 36% of people leaving prison go into some type of education, training or employment. Very often people leave prison – ill equipped to deal with day to day life.

This is underlined by statistics that show that some 43% of offenders have numeracy skills below GCSE standard while 37% have reading skills below the same measure. What is more, no-one agrees on how many offenders have learning disabilities such as dyslexia.

For many of those recently released, unemployment is a familiar scenario – 67% of the prison population were unemployed before being locked up and many will face the same situation when they are released. Is there any wonder why people go back to the way of life that sent them to prison in the first place?

This problem is more acute when it comes to short-term sentences. At present prisoners serving less than 12 months, 60% are re-convicted within a year.

One reason could be those in prison for less than a year do not have access to offender management programmes and are not subject to supervision by the Probation Service upon release.

Could the answer be a reduction in short term sentences and an increase in offender management programmes where each case is looked at individually?

What is more, the lack of education available in prison to short term offenders makes gaining employment after prison difficult.

For those released from prison, a criminal record is an obvious stumbling block for someone trying to get their life back on track. Ex-prisoners who have problems getting a job have a re-offending rate of 74% during their first year on the outside.

According to a recent survey, 41% of employers said the worry that an ex-offender may re-offend was the main reason why they would not employ them. However, a third of employers surveyed agreed that prison education helps to make offenders more employable.

Those going into prison often suffer from the disadvantage of a lack of any formal qualifications; over half of men in prison have no qualifications. Upon release, the situation is often unchanged despite the availability of prison education.

Even those who serve longer sentences and gained well recognised qualifications while inside, are damaged by the perception of prison education.

How can we expect somebody with no previous work experience and no formal qualifications outside of a prison environment to turn up for work on time everyday and conduct themselves appropriately?

A prison education system designed in conjunction with businesses and employers may help change the perception that employers have of the worthiness of education inside prison and in the process reduce the likelihood that someone will re-offend.

Of course, talking about issues like this will leave any politician open to charges of being ‘soft on crime.’ In short we are at crisis point with a prison population that is running out of control.

With public finances stretched it is quite obvious that locking people up simply cannot go on. The increasing prison population together with high reoffending rates means that something has to be done as a matter of urgency.

There can be no doubt that this is not an easy debate to have, especially with a media that is intent on peddling a myth that criminals get away scot free. In this age of austerity that we now find ourselves living in; the opportunity is before us to talk candidly about the future of crime and punishment in this country.

Christopher Evans is the MP for Islwyn