Beyond Punishment: we know that the current system doesn't work, so what's next?
When looking at rehabilitation for those who re-offend, it is difficult to see what the prison facilities are actively doing to assist these people in getting them off the streets, combat their addiction and improve their quality of living. Prison is a punishment put into place to prevent individuals from offending or re-offending, however the re-offending rates for those with a less than 12-month sentence was 53.9% in adults and overall, the rate amongst Juveniles at 31.1%. Although in Britain these statistics have decreased since 2020, there is still an extreme amount of work to be done in order to have an effective rehabilitation scheme for these people.
In 2021, the Government published their plan ‘Prison Strategy White Paper’. This aims to deliver a rehab scheme which includes creating improved conditions to reform and rehabilitate offenders. This scheme provides resources such as, better educational courses, behavioural programmes, and substance free living units amongst peers and support groups and aims to leave individuals with a ‘Firm Foundation’ upon their release. At the present time, however, most inmates are not receiving any education and are kept in their cells 23 hours per day.
A fantastic charity who advocate for prison reform is One Small Thing, founded by Lady Edwina Grosvenor. Their project ‘Hope Street’, based in Southampton, is a pilot of an alternative to custody for female offenders with children. The project was opened recently by the Princess of Wales, who described it as “an inspirational place”. There is a long way to go to improve our prisons but revolutionary pilots like this one are a big step in the right direction
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