19 June 2008 201 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

A common theme running through a lot of news stories at the moment seems to be the costs and effectiveness of prisons as a deterrent or solution to crime.

It is generally acknowledged that currently the prison system isn’t working. The threat of prison seems to be little deterrent to criminals, and the number of people re-offending after their release seems to hint that time spent inside does little to change peoples behaviour.

Prison Time Too Easy?

A large criticism of UK jails is that their regime is not enough of a deterrent to prevent people from committing crime in the first place. In April Glyn Travis of the Prison Officers Association claimed that prisoners didn’t take the chance to escape as life inside was so good for them.
“The prisoners didn’t take this opportunity because we believe life is so cushy within the prison system,” he said.

Mr Travis said there had been similar incidents in other prisons and he knew of cases of prostitutes entering open jails to service clients.
He added; “We have got no-go areas in certain prisons because prisoners have got complete control. There is not sufficient staff, there is no interaction between staff.

It isn’t difficult to source other claims of a similar nature.

Compare conditions in UK prisons to how prisoners are dealt with in Arizona in the USA

For the Maricopa County sheriff, who opened the nation’s largest tent prison in 1993, saving taxpayer pennies matters more than comforting convicted felons.

“We took away coffee, that saved $150,000 a year. Why do you need coffee in jail?” says Arpaio, patrolling the dusty, barren grounds. “Switched to bologna sandwiches, that saved half a million dollars a year.”

Arpaio makes inmates pay for their meals, which some say are worse than those for the guard dogs. Canines eat $1.10 worth of food a day, the inmate 90 cents, the sheriff says. “I’m very proud of that too.”

Critics rail against harsh conditions in the prison, where temperatures can top 100 degrees.

“We still have rights, but they act like we’re scum,” one inmate complains.

Is this the answer? Probably not, but then lessons can be learnt from Maricopa in reducing costs and reoffending rates.

Alternatives?

Prison should fulfill several functions. It should primarily serve as a deterrent to criminals. For those people that do find themselves in prison it should act as an opportunity to better themselves and avoid becoming incarcertaed again. Thirdly, for the taxpayers the costs of prisons should be minimised.

The current system seems to focus on entertainment rather than education. Why not remove Satellite TV, games consoles and gymnasiums and replace these with educational and vocational training? These could be run with the aid of local and national employers with the aim of creating a defined career path.

Why not outsource prison labour to public and private sector comapanies. Money earn by prisoners going to contribute to their stay and to pay for luxuries reducing expence to the taxpayer in the long term.