Transcript Crime and Punishment - Broadwater School Homepage

Crime and Punishment
Mr. A. Hardie
“Bang them up in prison” That’ll cut
the crime rate.
Prison on 21/02/2003
Population Today
71,986
Population on
corresponding Friday
last year
69,573
(+ 2,413)
Prison Population 21/02/2003
Adult Males
This Week
Last Week
57, 311
57,079
Young
10, 398
Offenders- Male
Adult Females
3, 703
10, 413
Young
OffendersFemale
583
574
3, 698
Recorded crime in the UK
Prison Population
• By the turn of the
• In 1995, there were
•
•
century, British jails
held more than 60,
000 people.
The type of criminals
varies greatly
over 4,000 prisoners
serving life sentences
for murder.
In the same year
20,000 were
sentenced to
imprisonment for
non-payment of fines.
Is Prison the best option?
• Many people say that
•
prison is not the best
option.
Having mixed with
other criminals they
argue it reinforces
criminal tendencies
and on release the
offender is likely to
break the law again.
• 57% of all prisoners
•
released in 1996 were
reconvicted of
breaking the law
within 2 years of
leaving prison.
Among young male
offenders this
percentage rose 76%
Talking Points
“Prisons are the
nearest thing to hell on
earth that have ever
been created”. (Prison
governor).
To send a woman to
prison is to take away
her family; her
children in particular
may suffer from this
deprivation, which can
lead to the break up of
the home even where
there is a stable
marriage” (A woman
prisoner)
In the morning at ten past seven we get unlocked
and then it’s communal slopping out, we all empty
our bowls and chambers from the night before and
then we go down to breakfast, eat it in the cell, get
washed, shaved and then lounge around until
nine, until they open the doors again. And then we
are locked up again until 11 o’clock, we’ll have half
an hour’s exercise, have our dinner, go upstairs,
collect the mail if there is mail, and then we are
locked up again until about ten past two. Then it's
slopping out again and then we’re locked up again
until about half past three. Then we have another
half an hour’s exercise, lock up again, then at 4
o’clock go down and get our tea, come back, and
then we’re locked up again until about six o’clock,
then we slop out again, get rid of our trays- and
then that’s it ‘til we’re locked up again all night
More Talking Points…
“Keep in mind those who are in prison, as
though you were in prison with them”.
(Hebrews 13:3)
Punishment or Rehabilitation?
• “Imprisonment does not deter. We have a record
number of people in prison and a record crime
rate” (Robert Kilroy- Silk)
Punishment or Rehabilitation?
• There are 165 prisons and
young offenders institutes
around Britain
• 20% of the population are
criminals needing special
treatment or care
• The great majority are young
men under 30 convicted of
drink, drugs and car offences.
• Most are semi-literate from
backgrounds where they have
had little emotional or moral
support.
Punishment or Rehabilitation?
• The average UK prison sentence is one year
• During this time the tax payer will fund bills of
•
twice the fees of an Eton College pupil, to keep
each prisoner confined to an environment which
teaches him how to commit crime more
effectively
According to The Prison reform Trust, 75% of
those who have been in prison once, rapidly find
themselves back inside.
Billy, 55, author’s interview
“I have been in and out of nick for the last 35
years. I reckon to have spent no more than 5 of
them free. I can never get a job, I have no
family- it’s the only place I really know. I feel
secure inside- I’ll die inside, I know that”
• How prisoners are dealt
•
•
with is becoming
increasingly important
The crime rate is rising
and prisons are
overcrowded
The cost of locking
people in prison is a
tremendous burden on
society.
Chris Tchaikovsky
• “I am convinced that prisons actually feed their own
•
•
•
•
•
future”
“If a prison is tough it becomes important to prove that
you can withstand it by hiding your real feelings”
“We have tried to publicise many cases of mistreatment
and neglect but little has changed in Britain’s closed and
secret prisons”
“Prison brutalises people…”
“What is needed is … to set up centres where the young
and disaffected can be educated, cared for and put
together again”
Could “Day Prisons” be the answer?
Alternatives to prison
• Electronic Tagging
• In 1999 this scheme was
extended to the majority
of Britain.
• Prisoners are not allowed
on this scheme if:
 They are a risk to the
public
 They are likely to run off
or offend again
 They have nowhere
suitable to live.
Electronic Tagging
• Advantages
• Disadvantages
 It is low cost (£4 per day)  There can be technical
and flexible
 Shoplifters can be kept at
home during shop hours
and sex offenders can be
stopped from going out
at school times
 It gives offenders a
chance of rehabilitation
and can resettle offenders
into the community
problems (“dead spots”)
 It cannot guarantee that
the offender won’t
reoffend.
Other alternatives
• Home Detention Curfew
•
•
scheme
2, 914 people were on
HDC last week.
In 1999, 5% of offenders
who broke the rules were
sent back to prison
• Community Service
• It costs around £25, 000
•
•
per year to keep a person
in prison,
just over £2, 200 to put
someone on probation,
less than £2000 for a
community service order.