What is your perception of prison life?

[Varus]

I'm doing research for my dissertation for uni and wanted to know how people generally percieve what life is like in prison. The media usually portrays it as being easy, what do you think?

[noxlumos]

Ward-Minter,You are the one missing the point.I am not seeking to lay blame for wrongful convictions at the door of the Prison Service, that clearly rests either with the CPS, the Police or with just bad luck.Nor do I decry the rights of anyone to live in safety without fear of crime. In that regard we are at least agreed, and I also agree with you that victims of crime suffer terribly and certainly should not have to. All that being said however does not lessen the tragedy of a young person taking their own life and unless you don't have a family, you cannot possibly know that none of them will end up in prison. As I was trying to demonstrate with the example of the Birmingham Six, mistakes are made.And point of fact about your 100% faith in the Police. I actually did what I was accused of and rightly went to prison, however that really did not excuse the Police trying to beat a confession out of me. Shouldn't they have gone to prison for that as well? Or do they not count amongst your criminals?

[mullein3]

hear hear ward minter you said what we all think ..but cant say so on here with out being attacked for having a opinion...by the way i dont read the daily mail..and secondly i dont give a dam if anyone hangs them selves in prison..we are all born with free will..we make our own destiny..we choose which path in life we take..and we should take full responsibility for our actions...at the end of the day its easy to die and hard to live!! so those that take their own lives just take the easy option...and yes i do think prisons should be harder without luxurys paid for by the decent people ..they are supposed to be aplace of punishment..and if they were harder then maybe a few more would think twice about reoffending..and every one on here has a right to their own opinion..without being verbally abused..

[libertie]

Please don't make assumptions mullein 3 you speak for us all well he most certainly does not speak for me!!!!

[mullein3]

libertie..sorry i didnt mean to offend you..its just that a lot of people wont post on the news section as they get attacked for voicing their opinion..which i think is wrong as every one sees things different..my best friend found her brother hanging he had got in with the wrong crowd..and she is still suffering now 5 years on..she has had counselling etc..but its not helped and also their was a question mark over the hanging as it was most likely murder..and it was never resolved and she personally is a broken person..no longer fun loving and full of life..if he hung himself then i find it very selfish as he knew how it would hurt his family ..and he had the easy way out.....

[libertie]

No offence taken. Sorry about your friend it must be awful for someone you love to commit suicide (if in fact he did) and I hope that one day soon she will be able to find some sort of peace and look back on all the happy times she spent with her brother!

[noxlumos]

Nobody has verbally abused you Mullein. I expressed an opinion in strong terms, politely and I thought in a fairly balanced way. I find your comments about the deaths of fellow human beings to be offensive, but since you are entitled to your opinion, honour your right to voice them.Just because I, or others on here, do not agree with you does not mean we are being abusive, and I fully understand that being married to a Police Officer as you are you will naturally feel defensive over my remarks about the police who arrested me. (Your husband sounds like a nice guy by the way, shame there aren't more officers like him).

I don't know whether you think everyone in prison is a career criminal but often they are not, just there because they are other people's victims too.If you are having a hard time equating it to men ( as male prisoners are an easy stereotype to conjour up mentally and not really representative) consider that 37% of women in prison attempts suicide.

http://www.womeninprison.org.uk/

Once again I'd like to stress that I have not verbally abused you, just tried to make you think of the real meaning of your words.

[mullein3]

noxlumos..i dont defend the police either their are good and bad every where..mr m was in the raf for 12 years before joining the police and he only has 2 years left now..he is not bitter and twisted ..and is so laid back its a wonder he doesnt fall over...he is the total opposite to me..he treats every one as equal and that how he likes to be treated the same as every one else..he infuriates me some times!!

[lizzierose]

surely the punishment is the removal of freedom, before piling all this mentally damaging stuff on top. maybe the "decent people" should show a little humanity

[searchme]

lizzierose- aren't you getting confused?

The 'decent people' are the VICTIMS.

[jno]

goodness, what a punitive lot. The suffering of a young man who kills himself is as nothing compared with the suffering of the person whose car he stole? Victims are decent people? Suicide is the easy way out? At least Norman and Nuxlumos know what they're talking about. Still, it's those who don't who give you your answer Varus: people generally perceive prison as far too lenient, and the death sentence as a better penalty for everything including car theft. Kill 'em all.

[david small]

Crime is mostly a matter of choice. If you take the risk and get away with it as most do, you have done all right, got one over on the system.
Conversely if you are caught, be prepared for society to extract its revenge.
Call it punishment if you will.
Prison, does generaly not work, social workers, probation, community service ,do not work in most cases. They are a soft option. Laughable and laughed at.
Why not administer sever pain to the criminals, i.e. The birch, they would hate the humiliation and the pain, but would it deter them from further transgressions? In a lot of cases yes.
Locking them up, costs a fortune, and achieves very little. I am of course referring to minor crimes here. For the very serious, Capital punishment.

[madein1978]

I wouldn't say it was easy, theres a strong criminal element in these places and a lot of heavies, BUT, I rather think the conditions are cushier than they should be, petty criminals do reoffend because they make friends in these places and miss them when they get out, if this was discouraged then maybe they would be less likely to reoffend. The heavier criminals though, the bank robbers, murderers and thugs though should be subject to Alcatraz type conditions, super strict, no comforts whatsoever and severe punishments when they step out of line, I have held this view for a long time, because I do believe that this country is too soft on the heavies but are a bit harsh on people that have only done a small crime, such as non payment of council tax and the like. I also believe though the crimes that are considered small fry, such as stealing cars, burglary, arson and the like should be dealt with more seriously than they are, I would put these people in a milder form of my 'Alcatraz' idea.

[bryadelle]

As a former employee of the prison service i would like to say that prison is not a nice place to be-i wouldnt like to go for sure.Yes the inmates do appear to have an easy time playing on play stations once they have earned their good behaviour status and little visits to the library gym and gaining tax paid qualifications etc, along with association where they may play pool etc, but there is also a very dark side to prison where there are attacks rapes and severe bullying which people generally dont tend to see. i have seen people who find prison life very easy and dont have any problems with being there, but these tend to be people from socially disadvantaged areas who generally would reoffend regardless. That said it doesnt mean ALL people from these areas reoffend, as a lot are quite successfully rehabilitated. The prison system now realises that rehabilitation is by far the greatest means of preventing reoffence than punishment. some one mentioned that you are stripped ,searched and de-loused..yes you are, which is by no means dignified but this is purely routine for reasons which should be obvious. weapons are easily concealed and the safety of all inmates and staff are paramount..Hope this answers your question.

[lizzierose]

no I'm not confused. Their punishment is the removal of freedom. To start saying they should also suffer this this and this is a bit sadistic and shows a dark side to the the "decent people" which perhaps if they're so flawless they'd best conceal

[Fish Kid]

My perception is that it is not tough enough...a rapist can win millions on the lottery on day release from a prison - it's not something you could make up!

Prisons are for punishment, should take a leaf out of Saudi Arabias book and lash people, that's a pretty good deterrent. Or cut their heads off, usually stops re-offending.

[SarCaustic]

I'm really sorry to lower the tone of the debate but Prison Break is on five tonight at 10:00pm - it's completely unrealistic but highly entertaining and definityely worth watching.

[Bob A Job]

Having read all the above, i still have the same opinion. that although sometimes bad, prisons are not half as bad as they should be.

If you are innocent, then you have a reason to live. to clear your name.

to all others. if you cant do the time...........

[DES SAUNDERS]

I don't know what the crime rates are like in other countries but I know that this country only listens to do-gooders. If prisons are so terrible why do most of the criminals re offend. An ex prison warder told me that they don't have playstations anymore they only want x box 360's now. Also they buy state of the art computers whilst schools have to beg for them. Something not quite right?

[EDDIE51]

Never have I heard such a load of rubbish on AB ! It is obvious that very few of you have any experience of prison apart from what you see on TV series or read in the papers.
The main 'punishment' is the removal from normal / family life , 75% of people who have been sent to jail never work again even after a short sentence. Too much stigma attached to employment of an ex offender. Little wonder that 80% reoffend they have no alternative.
In a closed prison ( which means most of them) you are locked up for 23 hours day. You get out , collect your breakfast and go back to your cell to eat it. Same for dinner. The scene of prisoners sitting in what looks like a restaurant eating and chatting is only for stories and TV programs .
TV is a privilege that has to be earned by good behaviour and is easily taken away again, there is NO satellite TV just the basic channels.
Cells are shared at least 2 and often 3 or 4 in a cell designed for 1.
The food budget is less than £2 per person per day that has to cover all 3 meals! 66p per meal!
There is NO internet in any prison apart from the governor's office and the administration centers. Prisoner NEVER have internet access, the computers in the education area have no internet , only the basic education programs that are installed.
No phone cards now as they were used as currency , prisoners have to give a list of the phone numbers they want on their phone list and this list has to be approved by the prison staff. When a prisoner wants to make a call, which can only be done when permitted out of the cell during 'association time' 2 hours a week, they have to dial a code number first and then one of the numbers on their list. Call costs come out of the prisoners 'account' which covers all extras such as tobacco and is £2.80 to £10.00 week depending on if they are able to work inside jail. The 'basic' is just £2.80 a week! most only get that as there are not enough jobs to go round.