JOURPRISON SERVICE NAL PRISON SERVICE

This edition includes: JOUR NAL May 2019 No 243

Is there a Prison Crisis? Thinking creatively and dialogically about prison’s old and new problems, Co-editors: Anastasia Chamberlen, Charlotte Weinberg and Anita Dockley

The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke Reflects on Recent Problems in Prisons

Building up to today’s prison crisis: An Interview with the former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick

From Poem into Spoken Word Jason N. Smith

Chaos and Conflict: The dog and the frying pan Fred

Scatter When They Come Kelly Roberts

A Crisis of Hope? Long Term Prisoners’ Experiences in Category A Environments Will Styles

Intersectionality and the Prison Crisis Victoria Lavis

Crises of Selfhood and Expressions of Punishment: A conversation with Psychotherapist Susie Orbach

Feeding the Prison Crisis Through Hostile Criminalisation: The Case of Joint Enterprise Henrique Carvalho Special Edition:

Getting out of the Crisis The prison crisis Richard Garside ­ Contents PRISON SERVICE

Co-editors: Dr Anastasia Chamberlen OUR NAL 2 Editorial Comment J is Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, Is there a Prison Crisis? Charlotte Weinberg is Director of Safe Ground, and Anita Dockley is Research Dr Anastasia Chamberlen, Charlotte Weinberg, Director at the Howard League for Anita Dockley Purpose and editorial arrangements Penal Reform

Dr Anastasia Chamberlen 6 The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke Reflects The Prison Service Journal is a peer reviewed journal published by HM Prison Service of England and Wales. (interviewer) on Recent Problems in Prisons Its purpose is to promote discussion on issues related to the work of the Prison Service, the wider criminal justice Dr Anastasia Chamberlen system and associated fields. It aims to present reliable information and a range of views about these issues.

The editor is responsible for the style and content of each edition, and for managing production and the Dr Anastasia Chamberlen 13 Building up to today’s prison crisis: An Interview (interviewer) Journal’s budget. The editor is supported by an editorial board — a body of volunteers all of whom have worked with the former Chief Inspector of Prisons, for the Prison Service in various capacities. The editorial board considers all articles submitted and decides the out - Nick Hardwick Dr Anastasia Chamberlen line and composition of each edition, although the editor retains an over-riding discretion in deciding which arti - cles are published and their precise length and language.

Jason N. Smith is a Safe Ground 17 From poem into spoken word alumnus, spoken word artist and From May 2011 each edition is available electronically from the website of the Centre for Crime former prisoner Jason N. Smith and Justice Studies. This is available at http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/psj.html

Circulation of editions and submission of articles Fred is a student at Milton Keynes 20 Chaos and Conflict: The dog and the frying pan, College, HMP Ranby Fred Six editions of the Journal, printed at HMP Leyhill, are published each year with a circulation of approximately 6,500 per edition. The editor welcomes articles which should be up to c.4,000 words and submitted by email to [email protected] or as hard copy and on disk to Prison Service Journal , c/o Print Shop Manager, Kelly Roberts is an artist and guest 21 Scatter when they come HMP Leyhill, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12 8BT. All other correspondence may also be sent to the performer at Safe Ground’s A Matter of Life and Death event, September 2018 Kelly Roberts Editor at this address or to [email protected] .

Footnotes are preferred to endnotes, which must be kept to a minimum. All articles are subject to peer review and may be altered in accordance with house style. No payments are made for articles. Will Styles is Governor of HMP 22 A Crisis of Hope? Long Term Prisoners’ Experiences Whitemoor in Category A Environments Subscriptions Will Styles The Journal is distributed to every Prison Service establishment in England and Wales. Individual members of Dr Victoria Lavis is Director of The 29 Intersectionality and the Prison Crisis staff need not subscribe and can obtain free copies from their establishment. Subscriptions are invited from other Appreciative Partnership Dr Victoria Lavis individuals and bodies outside the Prison Service at the following rates, which include postage:

Editorial Board United Kingdom Paul Addicott Dr David Maguire Dr Amy Ludlow HMPPS University College, London University of Cambridge single copy £7.00 Dr Ruth Armstrong Dr Jamie Bennett (Editor) Professor Anne-Marie McAlinden University of Cambridge Queen’s University, Belfast one year’s subscription £40.00 (organisations or individuals in their professional capacity) Dr Rachel Bell Governor HMP Long Lartin Dr Ruth Mann HMP Send Paul Crossey (Deputy Editor) HMPPS £35.00 (private individuals) Alli Black HMP Huntercombe William Payne HMP Kirkham Dr Karen Harrison (Reviews Editor) Independent Maggie Bolger George Pugh Prison Service College, Newbold Revel University of Hull HMP Belmarsh Overseas Professor Alyson Brown Steve Hall Dr David Scott Edge Hill University Independent Open University single copy £10.00 Gareth Evans Professor Yvonne Jewkes Christopher Stacey Independent University of Bath Unlock one year’s subscription £50.00 (organisations or individuals in their professional capacity) Dr Ben Crewe Dr Helen Johnston Ray Taylor University of Cambridge University of Hull HMPPS £40.00 (private individuals) Dr Sacha Darke Dr Bill Davies Mike Wheatley University of Westminster Leeds Beckett University HMPPS Dr Michael Fiddler Martin Kettle Kim Workman University of Greenwich Church of England Rethinking Crime and Punishment, NZ Orders for subscriptions (and back copies which are charged at the single copy rate) should be sent with a Dr Kate Gooch Dr Victoria Knight Dr David Honeywell University of Bath De Montfort University University of Durham Dr Darren Woodward Monica Lloyd Jackson Joseph cheque made payable to ‘HM Prison Service’ to Prison Service Journal , c/o Print Shop Manager, HMP Leyhill, University Centre, Grimsby University of Birmingham HMP Leyhill Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12 8BT.

Prison Service Journal Issue 243 Issue 243 Prison Service Journal May 2019

Crises of selfhood and expressions of punishment Dr Anastasia Chamberlen and 36 Charlotte Weinberg A conversation with psychotherapist Susie Orbach Dr Anastasia Chamberlen and Charlotte Weinberg

41 Feeding the prison crisis through Dr Henrique Carvalho is Associate Professor at the School of Law, hostile criminalisation University of Warwick The case of joint enterprise Dr Henrique Carvalho

48 Getting out of the crisis Richard Garside is Director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies Richard Garside

55 Book Review Dr. Jamie Bennett is Governor of Start Here: A road map to reducing HMP Long Lartin. mass incarceration Dr. Jamie Bennett

Book Review Muzzaker Mathias, an Open University graduate, Learning Unconscious incarceration: How to break out, Together alumnus and HMP Grendon resident. be free and unlock your potential Muzzaker Mathias

Book Review Martin Kettle is an associate inspector with Her Majesty’s Deserved criminal sentences: An overview Inspectorate of Prisons Martin Kettle

Book Review Olivia Tickle is a Psychology Graduate and Administrator for Life beyond crime: What do those at risk of Offender Management at HMP offending, prisoners and ex-offenders Huntercombe. need to learn? Olivia Tickle Cover image: Winston ‘Gus’ Augustine

The Editorial Board wishes to make clear that the views expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the Prison Service. Printed at HMP Leyhill on 115 gsm and 200 gsm Galerie Art Satin Set in 10 on 13 pt Frutiger Light Circulation approx 6,500 ISSN 0300-3558 „ Crown Copyright 2017

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 1 Editorial Comment

Is there a Prison Crisis? Thinking creatively and dialogically about prison’s old and new problems Co-editors: Dr Anastasia Chamberlen is Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, Charlotte Weinberg is Director of Safe Ground, and Anita Dockley is Research Director at the Howard League for Penal Reform 1

Following a multi-expert workshop that took its adoption of the Urgent Notification process have, place at the University of Warwick in January since 2017, placed a new kind of urgency around 2018, this special issue brings together a collection exacerbating issues of violence, disorder and harm. The of papers that reflect on contemporary problems Prisons Inspectorate has led the chorus of concern, but in English prisons. it is joined by Independent Monitoring Boards, charities, It offers one of the first comprehensive campaigners and academics, all of whom have warned collections that look at the notion of a ‘prison against some of the policy decisions that appear to crisis ’ critically, and from a range of perspectives. have escalated these issues, including staffing cuts, Its ultimate aims are: first, to discuss whether overcrowding, and the prioritization of security over there is such a thing as a ‘prison crisis ’ in the first rehabilitation and care. place. Second, to unpack key factors behind what This special issue thus follows a diverse range of the media has called the ‘prison crisis ’; to do so, concerns about the state, social function, and future of we include here the perspectives of both those our prisons. observing prison from a top-down perspective, Though the label of a ‘crisis ’ may suggest that including the independent inspectorate and what is happening today in our prisons reflects a new researchers, as well as those who work, or live in and unprecedented series of problems, it is also a term prisons, thus offering a bottom-up account of that captures a general sense of decay and anxiety prison’s daily emotional fibre, highlighting the about prisons’ fundamental function and operation. impact of this crisis on a personal and systemic This so-called crisis, for us, can be observed in terms of level. Finally, this special edition aims to conceive poor desistance rates post-release and thus in prison’s of creative means to make an intervention on poor record in fulfilling its own objectives of protecting 2 how we think of, frame and discuss so-called the public and addressing crime. It can also be seen in solutions, or responses to the current problems the personal tragedies experienced in terms of posed by prisons and punitiveness . significant rises in violence, self-harm, suicides, family Media, politicians and members of the public have breakdown, and addiction, and in the deterioration of talked more than usual about prisons in recent times. workable relationships between prisoners and staff, all Reports and scandals around the deterioration in living of which are issues arguably exacerbated by a growing 3 conditions, safety and purposeful activity in several and often overcrowded custodial estate. English prisons are now numerous and have put prisons The narrative of crisis we consider in this special under renewed scrutiny, even by its defenders. In edition is not only a crisis of numbers, but also of those particular, the Chief Inspectorate of Prisons’ reports and people incarcerated. Prisons hold many young men,

1. This special edition is dedicated to Winston ‘Gus’ Augustine, a Safe Ground peer who was recently found dead in his prison cell. 2. 48 per cent of adults are reconvicted within one year of release, and for those serving sentences of less than 12 months this increases to 64 per cent (see Tables C1a and C2a, Ministry of Justice (2018) Proven Reoffending Statistics: April 2016 to June 2016, London: Ministry of Justice). 3. The latest figures from the Ministry of Justice show that many prisons are severely overcrowded: local prisons Leeds, Wandsworth, and Exeter each hold around 50 per cent more prisoners than they should safely hold, while Wandsworth and Durham are 60 per cent over capacity (Ministry of Justice (2019) Prison Population Figures: 2019, Available Online [Accessed February 2019]: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-population-figures-2019

2 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 and there is an over-representation of people from along with creative and inclusive methodologies, are BAME backgrounds. Yet there is also an increasing essential approaches. We hope that with this special number of older people in prison, for whom, as both issue we can take a first step towards offering a the current Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke, and dialogic avenue through which to problematize, better the former Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick note in understand, and potentially address punishment’s old their interviews in this special issue, the system in and newer problems. place is not suitable. This collection starts with artistic pieces by former And while there are fewer women among the and serving prisoners which seek to express conditions prison population, 4 their distinct needs should not be of personal and prison-led crises from an affective forgotten, particularly in the context of rising harm and stance often overlooked when talking about prison’s vulnerability inside prisons. There is also a systemic or operational problems. The systemic, preponderance of poor health in both men and dynamic relationships between prisons, people who live women’s prisons, including high levels of mental health and work in prisons, and the wider population are needs and addiction. As the Chief Inspector of Prisons intrinsic to our understanding of the function prisons explains in his interview, the problem of mental health serve. Such relationships raise important questions in prisons is a long-standing one, driving several other about the wider context in which prisons operate, follow-up problems and raising serious concerns about including: how does the structure, management and the efficacy and suitability of prisons with regards to a staffing of a prison relate to its local community? How substantial proportion of prisoners. As Mr. Clarke notes, do people in prison relate to staff and to one another? the issues of an ageing population and of the high Artistic practice and relationship-focused work is numbers of prisoners experiencing ill mental health call part of what Safe Ground does as a small, arts and for a more comprehensive, overall strategy, which is education-based organization, and in many ways, it is currently lacking. this kind of work that has shaped our collaboration as More generally, research has shown the prison editors on various events and initiatives over the past population includes many people that have been three years. It is these artistically driven, emotionally abandoned and abused by social structures and complex expressions that have in many ways guided institutions, blamed for their experiences of extreme our collective discussion on the crisis of harm we find poverty and exclusion and who, by the time they reach today inside prisons. prison, often have a range of needs and deficits in Alumnus of Safe Ground, spoken word artist, and terms of education, employment and housing. 5 former prisoner, Jason N. Smith articulates through his Large proportions of people in prison are people poetry how there is much we can learn about the crisis with multiple and complex needs, created, sustained of harm currently found inside many prisons. We can and fed over many years, often with state involvement learn about the driving features of self-harm and and without social support. This heady mix of suicide in prison, reflect on the fears and anxieties that individual and collective impact cannot arguably be prisoners bring into prison and try to cope with, and addressed under punitive c onditions with limited staff importantly, through such learning we ought to availability and compromised use of ‘purposeful ’ and empathise with the complex emotional narratives that rehabilitative activities in prison. From this perspective, make up not only prison life, but also the individual the challenges facing prisons today are both more inner worlds of thousands of people in prison and of longstanding and complex than the idea of a crisis those who support them outside. Similarly, the piece of might superficially suggest. art and accompanying text by ‘Fred ’, who was at the Drawing from the fruitful and ongoing dialogue end of a long sentence in HMP Ranby when he made developed at the ‘Chaos and Crisis: Can prison be this contribution, points to a sense of unarticulated pain better than this? ’ event at the University of Warwick in that in many ways shapes a significant portion of the 2018, we argue, throughout the special issue, for a prison population’s life narratives. ‘I don’t know what it more open and committed dialogue between charities, signified ’, he says of the hot oil that hit him when his campaigners, researchers, activists, journalists, those stepfather threw the frying pan against the wall. Such who work in prisons across management levels, and trauma brought into prison inevitably conditions how prisoners and their families. Talking across all of these prison is experienced. actors and strata is not an easy task; and for this ‘Scatter When they Come ’ is a piece by Kelly reason, we think that promoting creative means of Roberts. Kelly performed this piece at Safe Ground’s expressing and sharing discussion and experiences, symposium, ‘A Matter of Life and Death ’ in September

4. There were 3,820 women in prison in February 2019. 5. See Cooper, V. (2013) No Fixed Abode: The implications for homeless people in the criminal justice system. London: The Howard League for Penal Reform. Available online: https://howardleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/No-fixed-abode- report.pdf (Accessed: 3rd March 2019); House of Commons (2017) Housing Support for Ex-offenders. London: House of Commons. Available online: http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN02989/SN02989.pdf (Accessed: 3rd March 2019).

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 3 2018. It was a contribution to the idea that for many decades now, have driven much of our legal and young people, especially black young people, the criminal justice practice and increasingly are also cloned notion of a police force that keeps them safe from harm into other areas, including immigration detention and is far from a reality. For many, before involvement with deportation policies. the criminal justice system comes a sense of suspicion, As the interview with psychotherapist Susie fear and concern for the ways in which such state Orbach aptly highlights, problems within institutions institutions can directly or indirectly cause harm. Within like prisons can often offer an opportunity to re- such emotional narratives, understanding the impact of examine, question and understand the broader a so-called prison crisis and disorder becomes ever more function prisons might serve in society. complicated and significant. The interview with Orbach discusses how the The piece by Will Styles, governor at HMP chaos and crisis so often manifested in the system, is Whitemoor, which reflects on his research on the also internally created and experienced by many of us. notion of hope in custody, calls for a deeper Orbach outlines the indescribable pains of what people appreciation of the role of not only emotional wellbeing are capable of doing to each other and to themselves as in custody, but also of the significance of meaningful ‘indigestible ’ and suggests that perhaps we use the activities and relationships in making prison ‘survivable ’. structures and edifice of prison and punishment as Styles also points out the importance of the consistent, ways of justifying, perpetuating and ‘containing ’ truths responsible institution and thus alludes to the impact about ourselves which we cannot handle. breakdowns in bureaucracy can have on men’s ability She invites us to consider how the functioning of to cope with their sentences. the prison may relate to our own anxieties, by shielding Drawing on qualitative research findings from us against the unbearable, indigestible truths of the interviews with Category A prisoners serving long harms we cause each other and the challenges of sentences, he outlines the conditions that can threaten healing together. Finally, Orbach warns against the and compromise a sense of hope in prison and argues circular logic of punitivity and hostility that has become that without a sustained investment in promoting widely popular today and urges us to consider more hope, trust and meaningful relationships and activities therapeutic approaches to dealing with our hurt, rage inside, prisons and prisoners can lose a sense of and sense of injustice, collectively. purpose and enter states of existential crises. In a similar vein but from a socio-legal rather than Linked to this is also Victoria Lavis’ article on psychotherapeutic perspective, Henrique Carvalho’s ‘Intersectionality and the prison crisis ’. Using an appreciative inquiry methodology that is reflective of article, titled ‘Feeding the prison crisis through hostile the role of prisoners and prison staff in the co- criminalisation: The case of joint enterprise ’, broadens production of research, she shows findings from her the question of who we punish and how we relate to study that suggest an important relationship between them . He opens up the notion of the prison crisis ‘by ‘the singularising way diversity, personhood and identity critically examining its context from the perspective of are currently conceptualized and responded to and criminalisation — of who is criminalised, how and why. ’ prisoners ’ experience and perception of humanity in In agreement with Orbach, Carvalho sees the custody ’. She explores the implications of this singular prison crisis as being primarily a ‘crisis of hostility ’, and approach to diversity for rehabilitation and desistance as the result of an ongoing urge in recent decades to and argues that intersectionality can offer a way punish more, longer and harsher. As he explains, the forward. Intersectionality can address a range of issues hostility of punishment performs an exclusionary of diversity and difference in custody at once and ‘could function, hence why prisoner populations are made up inform practices which can respond to the whole of those most socially marginalized. person and thereby mitigate against a crisis of He notes that broader processes of personhood and identity in prisons. ’ criminalization work to ensure that those deemed Overall, with the contributions in this special punishable and most dangerous are always those edition we wish to illustrate that engaging with such populations that ‘expose certain characteristics of creative, intersectional and intersectoral approaches can ‘undesirability ’ in our contemporary context ’. He not only enable better interactions among stakeholders exemplifies this exclusionary interplay between in prisons, but can also offer the potential for more criminalization processes and punitive institutions creative means to address the current problems faced in through the case of joint enterprise, ‘the legal rules English prisons and seek solutions that may exist that allow multiple individuals to be prosecuted and outside prison and go beyond our current, arguably punished for a crime substantially committed by limited, imagination of social justice. another person, on the basis that they were Such dialogue is essential for understanding associated with or participating in a previous joint issues of social harm in general, including those criminal activity with that person ’. As Carvalho societal ‘crises ’ of punitiveness and hostility which, for concludes, joint enterprise showcases the breadth of

4 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 both the criminal law and of punishment today, Whilst it is true Winston may have been involved putting both at risk of self-destructing cycles of crisis. in some very violent and disturbing crimes (he was The notion of crisis and what it implies in the on remand for such charges when he died), it is also context of prisons is the subject of Richard Garside’s true he was known to many over a very long period article, ‘Getting out of the crisis ’. Garside observes that of time as a creative, responsible, committed, we might see prisons at the moment as being in crisis, engaged, caring and thoughtful family member, reflecting the particular circumstances of custodial friend, partner, uncle and colleague. Winston did establishments which may be compromising their volunteer work, participated in organisational events effective functioning in terms of harm, violence levels, and activities and always prepared with diligence for and disorder. Although this understanding suggests public presentations. that some prisons are more crisis-prone than others (a Within the current complex climate of punishment point also made by the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter and prisons, it is important to consider this Clarke in his interview), Garside also notes that today contradictory reality: we are all capable of being more we may need to concede that we are facing an than one thing at a time, and that poses both additional crisis of imprisonment. This second, broader complexities as well as avenues for hope and change. crisis relates to our ‘enduring attachment to prison and imprisonment as a social institution ’ and thus to ‘our We are committed to keeping Winston’s memory apparent inability to consider other options, different alive, to using it to raise the potential for how possibilities, in place of the monotonous making and awareness of the impacts and outputs of trauma, remaking of the prison institution. ’ violence, abandonment, punishment and emotional While in the twentieth century the crisis of prisons pain can drive us to create a wider social system that and the crisis of imprisonment expanded and occurred considers care, compassion and concern for each other, hand in hand, deepening one another, Garside argues to be its priorities. that solutions to each of these require distinct By way of conclusion then, we hope that this approaches and are driven by different ideologies. As special edition will invite a more sensitive and he explains, while the crisis identified in some prisons empathetic approach to prisons and imprisonment. can be remedied through reformist efforts around the Those of us who research, work or experience prison improvement of conditions, the underlying, deeper, know that it is an institution that cannot be crisis of imprisonment is one we ought to consider understood without a fair amount of emotional through a more committed and perhaps less cynical intelligence and attention to the complex stories that appreciation of the notion of abolition. Doing so would make up the human fibre of the system. This fibre offer opportunities to see the future of punishment and includes all who live, work, research in prison, visit, criminal justice as ‘open, rather than already volunteer and invest; but also, those who walk past determined ’, enabling us to consider fresh solutions as the walls, read the books, watch the documentaries not only imaginable but also possible, meaning that and enjoy the crime dramas. new solutions to the problems of harm and crime do not necessarily have to be conditioned by a prison- We propose that the ‘causes ’ and the ‘solutions ’ to centric approach. current problems in prison can both be traced to the Last, but not least, we would like to dedicate this lessons we can derive from taking more seriously the special edition of the Journal to the memory of a Safe importance of meaningful and open relationships and Ground colleague who was recently found dead in his compassion in custodial settings. We also wish to show prison cell. Winston, ‘Gus ’ Augustine, who drew the that while still pertinent, there is more to this so-called pen illustration on the cover of this edition, worked crisis than the reform of specific conditions in some of with Safe Ground on a variety of programmes and our institutions. Perhaps this is an opportunity for us to organisational developments over many years. reflect deeply and collectively on the system as a whole Winston first came into contact with the and to reconsider the purpose and function of organisation when he took part in the Family Man punishment, its consequences for all of us under our programme in HMP Wandsworth in 2004. From 2012 current context, and to rethink what we are aiming to until his tragic and premature death in 2018, Winston achieve through it. Considering the numerous worked with Safe Ground to design and develop new committed, passionate, and thoughtful people involved work, recruit staff, support their strategic thinking and in prisons and the justice system we remain confident deliver a range of presentations to public, academic and that more socially just solutions can be drawn to the artistic audiences nationally. many and recurring crises of prisons and punishment.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 5 The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke reflects on recent problems in prisons Peter Clarke is HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. He is interviewed by Dr Anastasia Chamberlen , Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick

This interview showcases how Peter Clarke numbers, some of the ‘crisis ’ points identified in some outlines the Inspectorate’s priorities and considers prisons in recent years can be remedied. what he sees as some of the persistent problems in Since the time of this interview, the Inspectorate the prison system, three years since his has remained committed to addressing several of these appointment as Chief Inspector of Prisons. problems, particularly by urging both prison leadership Conducted in May 2018, this interview followed and the Government to seriously consider viable the Inspector’s first of report of HMP Liverpool in solutions that will help improve prisons’ day-to-day January 2018 and an Urgent Notification to the work and overall function. The Inspectorate’s Secretary of State, regarding deteriorating recommendations are framed under international conditions at HMP Nottingham in the same month. human rights standards and include their four part Since then, the Inspectorate has issued a number Healthy Prisons Test, incorporating evaluations around of further Urgent Notifications, including one for safety, respect, purposeful activity, and rehabilitation HMP Exeter in May 2018, another for HMP and release planning. But since some of the Birmingham—which in August 2018 was taken Inspectorate’s reports have not always been under the control of the State from the private appropriately responded to, in recent months Mr. contractor G4S — and an additional Urgent Clarke and his team have taken a further step in Notification concerning appalling conditions at developing a new type of review which will assess HMP Bedford, issued in September 2018. whether previously inspected prisons which were found The Urgent Notification Protocol has given the to be failing are making progress towards improving Inspectorate important opportunities to highlight the standards. From 2019, the Inspectorate will publish urgency and seriousness of problems in some of our Independent Reviews of Progress (IPR) for prisons (it is prisons, requiring the Secretary of State to act on the envisaged that there will be 15-20 reports per year) concerns raised and to give wider public attention to which were previously found to fail on one or more of these issues. These problems are complex, but its Healthy Prisons Tests, hoping to incentivise a more predominantly include deteriorating living and safety committed approach towards its recommendations. conditions, rising levels of violence and harm, drug In the interview, Mr. Clarke explained current misuse, and missed resettlement opportunities for problems in prisons in a measured manner. It was clear prisoners. These notifications not only place the throughout our conversation that his primary intention capacity of some of these establishments to fulfil their was to help effect improvements in a number of areas objectives with regards to rehabilitation and public in which he and the Inspectorate feel prisons have protection under scrutiny, but taken together, they also recently deteriorated. In so doing, he expressed serious suggest and highlight broader systemic challenges. concerns and criticisms, but also recognised the efforts This interview revisits some of the most significant of a number of actors and acknowledged areas where of these challenges in the past five to six years and progress has been made. considers ways forward. Whilst raising concerns about Our discussion started by going back to 2016, some establishments, especially local and training when he took up the role of Chief Inspector of Prisons, prisons, Mr. Clarke remains optimistic that with good having previously worked for several decades for the leadership, commitment and coordinated strategy, police, retiring in 2008 as Assistant Commissioner of hope and decency can be reinstated in some of the Specialist Operations. Until 2015 Mr. Clarke worked in poorly performing prisons he and his team inspected. public, private and academic roles. The year 2016 was He also remains confident that with increases in staff also a year which marked some undeniable increases in

This interview was conducted in May 2018 and updated in March 2019; nonetheless, it may not fully reflect latest developments. The abbreviations AC and PC refer to Anastasia Chamberlen and Peter Clarke. The editors of this special issue would like to thank Mr. Clarke and the Inspectorate’s Chief Communications Officer, Mr. John Steele for their time and assistance with this interview.

6 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 harm and violence in many custodial institutions. It was HMP Nottingham. Given this context, the Urgent a time when a range of prison disturbances took place Notification Protocol is real progress.’ and political attention on prisons brought a rare kind of AC: Would you say the Urgent Notification public consideration of the custodial estate. process has been the main bit of progress you’ve seen in this area in the past couple of years? The context of prisons today: Opportunities, PC: ‘I would say that’s the main piece of progress. ambitions, challenges and obstacles When I came to this job I set out as my ambition to increase the impact of inspection as there’s no point in Mr Clarke explained: ‘It was well known when I inspectors of any kind or type, independent or took over this role from Nick Hardwick in 2016 that we otherwise, if their findings and recommendations are were facing some very serious challenges. All the not taken notice of. I have been very concerned, and indicators were going in the wrong direction in terms of still I am at the way in which far too many of our violence, the ready availability of drugs, etc. It was recommendations are not achieved and in my mind are obvious that prisons were under pressure in terms of not taken seriously. staffing levels and this impacted their ability to deliver This is happening due to a combination of factors. meaningful and positive regimes I don’t think it’s an act of political of activity for prisoners. So, I ill will or obstruction. I think that knew this was a very challenging prisons have been under period and, of course, it It was obvious that immense pressure over the past coincided with when I came in few years and there’s an extent, this role, in the end of January prisons were under in some prisons, to which just 2016, with the Government pressure in terms of keeping the places safe, keeping announcing its prison reform the staff safe, keeping the programme. David Cameron, staffing levels and prisoners safe on a day-to-day then prime minister, made a basis absorbs all of their energy. speech at the Policy Exchange this impacted their And achieving Inspectorate setting out the framework for the ability to deliver recommendations has perhaps Government’s proposed reforms not been at the top of their and along with Michael Gove meaningful and priorities list.’ they were putting their positive regimes of Arguably, this is something combined political weight that the recent decision of the behind a programme for prison activity for prisoners. Inspectorate to follow up reform. inspections with the Independent Of course, things have Reviews of Progress (IPR) changed since then and I’m now evaluation will help address. IPRs working with my fourth Justice Secretary and the are due to be published in 2019, enabling more political landscape is now dominated by Brexit. Prison accountability for those prisons rated as poorly reform has to an extent suffered because of that, performing and providing ministers with an because the Prisons and Courts Bill which was making independent review, separate from HMPPS. Mr. Clarke its way through the last parliament and enjoyed pretty went on to explain that performance levels are linked to broad cross-party support lost its prisons element after the willingness of different prisons to take seriously the the last election . Inspectorate’s recommendations: ‘some prisons do Thus, much of what I had hoped would be manage to respond very well and others don’t. You can achieved, in terms of putting, for instance, this actually draw correlations between achievement rates Inspectorate onto a statutory footing for the first of recommendations and performance. It’s quite clear time, didn’t happen. After the election, David that those prisons which do respond positively to our Liddington who was then the Justice Secretary said recommendations either maintain or improve their that he wanted to achieve some of the objectives of grading in subsequent inspections.’ the Prisons and Courts Bill that were administrative rather than of legislative means. From that conversation came the Urgent Notification Protocol. The role of leadership: Enabling and disabling We worked for many months with the Ministry of positive performance in prisons Justice to figure out how this would work and it was eventually signed off in the end of November 2017 AC: What differentiates performance outcomes and the first time we used it was January 2018 at between prisons, is it a matter of different management?

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 7 PC: ‘I think if you look at all the variables that supply of such drugs. I know as an Inspectorate we there are in prisons, and prisons are very complex often say, there should be a whole prison approach organisations, the one key variable which stands out for where we should look to reduce demand as well as me above all others is leadership. That is, quality of supply. That is, of course, true, but the fact is that the leadership. Where you have good leadership, prisons drugs are getting in there and are causing problems, tend to perform better. Many prisons at the moment, and they’re causing debt, and violence, and bullying particularly the local prisons, and let us get one thing and, in some cases, a lot of injury and illness; they’re right: it’s not right to say there’s a crisis in every prison destabilising prisons. I think there’s a very clear need to in the country, because there’s not. Many prisons are sharpen up the strategy in keeping drugs out. actually doing a really good job, and there are a lot of AC: Is part of the problem lower staff numbers? very good, dedicated staff that are working in them. For PC: It is part of it, but those staff that are available instance, open prisons are performing well, women’s also have to be properly led. prisons are performing quite well, AC: I saw in Nottingham and the high security prisons are prison that it wasn’t that there pretty good. The problem is in all Our discussion on weren’t enough staff; but some the local prisons and the training prison staff and were seen as ‘inexperienced’. prisons. In those prisons what PC: ‘That’s an interesting would make for better their role in obser vation. That’s what they performance are four or five said at Nottingham. But what I things which are getting in the enabling a balanced see is that newer staff coming way of improving the environment in in can also be seen as an performance . opportunity to change the We as an Inspectorate prisons took us culture. So, at some places they measure the performance against might say ‘we’re really worried objective standards which are back to the theme because these new staff lack underpinned by international of safety. Staff cuts confidence, etc’. Whereas in human rights standards, we’re another prison and another not a regulator, and we’re not have clearly governor, can take a more looking for compliance with impacted the way in positive approach and say ‘with policy. It’s all about outcomes for these new staff here’s a new prisoners. The things that are which some prisons opportunity to change’. After getting in the way of prisons all, it’s clear that there are achieving what we’re looking for are managed from a long-standing cultural issues in are to be found in our so-called security perspective. some jails . Four Healthy Prisons Tests. These If you’re going to have role concern issues of safety, respect, models and mentors within the purposeful activity and rehabilitation: First of all, safety. staff you’ve got to have positive ones, and not the Prisons are simply at the moment not safe enough, far cynical or careworn or exhausted ones. Being a prison too many of them are violent. There’s far too much officer is not an easy job, I don’t blame anyone for violence of all kinds and all the indicators have been being utterly exhausted by it. But particularly, some of going in the wrong direction for some years now. With the places we’ve inspected in the past few years, the prisoner on prisoner assault, prisoner on staff, self- staffing levels were far too low. They’ve been reduced inflicted harm, self-inflicted deaths.’ by the benchmarking exercise to a level which was simply not sustainable and they did not allow sufficient Unpacking the crisis of safety: The role of drugs, staff to be present to do anything, other than the bare staff numbers, and boredom in custody minimum. Thus, while I appreciate there will be some challenges with having new staff, having them is better AC: This crisis of safety then; is it a relatively recent than no staff.’ trend? Our discussion on prison staff and their role in PC: ‘It has been building up for a number of years. enabling a balanced environment in prisons took us In recent years it has escalated. The increase is year on back to the theme of safety. Staff cuts have clearly year and levels of violence have been appalling. Double impacted the way in which some prisons are managed digit increases. What sits behind that is clearly the from a security perspective, but arguably also impacted impact of drugs and in particular new psycho-active the rise in the use of new psycho-active substances. substances. My personal view is that there hasn’t been Mr Clarke remarked: ‘I still find it quite strange that enough done to have a coherent strategy to reduce the prisons are extremely good at keeping people in, but

8 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 they’re far less good at keeping stuff out, and I don’t is decent, it’s just simply not. And it’s hardly surprising see why that should be the case, it needn’t be this way. that the lack of rehabilitative activity is so low in such They could do a lot more with technology and just by circumstances. I don’t think the Government’s ambition adjusting their mindset under security measures.’ He around reform and a ‘rehabilitation revolution’ led by listed a range of factors affecting the supply of drugs, education and training is going to happen until they including the possibility of staff corruption, drones, can get these basics of decent living dealt with, get the drugs smuggled through visits, prisoners deliberately places safe, get people out of their cells, and get them getting recalled to bring drugs inside, or even the into work and education.’ involvement of organised crime groups. He explained, ‘all of these things come together’, but what enables The mental health and ageing population crises such issues to persist is ‘when you haven’t got sufficient staff in The Inspector of Prisons some of these places to have a went on to clarify that beyond really effective security regime. ...beyond the clear the clear evidence of problems The drugs issues are with regards to safety, drugs and compounded by the lack of staff, evidence of living conditions, prisons today meaning that prisoners are not problems with are facing two additional ‘crises’ getting enough time out of their which he feels need more urgent, cell and so boredom is driving regards to safety, strategic consideration. The first them to drugs when they’re drugs and living concerned the excessively high locked up for such a long time. number of prisoners experiencing There’re so many jails where conditions, prisons ill mental health. As he explained: people can’t get out of their cells ‘far too many people in jail to get to the various courses today are facing shouldn’t be there, they need to available and the amount of two additional be in a much more therapeutic waste is enormous. When we environment.’ Addressing the inspected Feltham in 2017, a YOI, ‘crises’…the mental health crisis in prisons I think we had found that 19,000 excessively high may be about considering days of teaching time had been different pathways in terms of lost, because people were just number of prisoners diversion, but, as Mr. Clarke said, locked up unable to get to the this may also need ‘a different courses. Prisoners need to be able experiencing ill pathway when those needs are to get out of their cells to get to mental health…and identified in prison about making these activities, it’s not good sure that the prisoners are able to having a wonderful set of the increase in the get the right sort of environment programmes if only 40 per cent to improve. At the moment, if of the education places are filled. ageing prisoner you have a mental health issue, Having said this, safety, drugs, population. it’s not going to be improved in living conditions all come the conditions where far too together. Living conditions are many prisoners are being held.’ really deteriorating, far too many of our jails are simply The second strategic issue he identified concerns shameful really.’ the increase in the ageing prisoner population. ‘Due to the changing sentencing patterns of the types of The crisis of indecent conditions offence of which people are being convicted, sex offences for example, the prison population is going to Mr. Clarke explained that living conditions continue for many many years to get older. Prisons are deteriorated ‘because of lack of investment.’ In a 2017 not configured as residential care homes for elderly report of the Inspectorate, they found that a key people. There is much good work being done around feature associated with poor living conditions was the the country with regards to this issue; there are some ‘doubling up of prisoners in cells designed for one good initiatives. For instance, in one jail there was a person.’ Staff shortages have meant, that in some wing that was specifically set aside for older prisoners. establishments, prisoners are locked up together, some And there’s a waiting list to get to it. I saw for myself for up to 23 hours a day. As Mr. Clarke notes, in these that some of the older men there were actually looking overcrowded cells, prisoners ‘have the one screen after each other and they were pleased to be off the lavatory in the cell and they very often have to take all main wings, full of drugs, violence, and noise.’ their meals in that cell as well. There is no way that that However, such good initiatives he explained are often

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 9 not followed by an overarching strategy, thus lacking long time and the mental health issues. I know that coordination across the sector. ‘I don’t see this sort of there’s much concern about mental health in the approach being coordinated and I don’t see an overall community; prisons are just a very focused microcosm strategy yet for dealing with this older prisoner of that reality. Many of those people find themselves population. We need to ask difficult questions in falling foul of the criminal justice system and end up in regards to this: do older prisoners need to be held in jail when actually, potentially some other type of traditional prisons? When one is aged 70 or beyond, intervention earlier might have avoided that.’ do they need the security measures that are in place in But, Mr. Clarke was careful not to overstate the a category B or category C prison, or should we be notion of a ‘crisis’ in prisons. Over the past five or six thinking about a different type of years, and certainly since custody? At the moment the only problems inside prisons received thinking I’ve seen is about We need two considerable media attention, we tinkering around the edges with have heard the phrase ‘prison what’s available. It hasn’t been things: one is the crisis’ indicating the strategic in terms of picking up finance…Clearly unprecedented deterioration of good practice and propagating it some establishments and and thinking more broadly about resources are an significant increases in harm. a different structure for older However, Mr. Clarke wanted to prisoners.’ issue. But there has clarify that not all prisons have to be investment in been subject to such crisis. I then Is this a crisis or a series of asked him what might constitute long-term, inherent the fabric of a way of understanding the problems? notion of crisis in the prison prisons as well, context. As he said, ‘in terms of AC: Which of these anyone who goes prisons the term crisis should be problems that you’ve listed in used perhaps a little more prisons, around safety, drugs, into a prison like sparingly than it is. But in recent conditions, mental health and some of the ones years it is, I think, an accurate ageing populations, would you description of the situation say have been long-term for which we issued where prisons find themselves in. problems? Some of these don’t Some of them at least are unable sound so new. Urgent to fulfil their core function. Their PC: ‘Overcrowding which Notifications can core function obviously is to fulfil plays straight into the living the sentence of the court. But conditions is a long-term issue see the appalling the next bit of that is when you and that has been with us for conditions and start seeing such function being many many years. Drugs have to hold people in such a way so been with us for years, but not knows that it just that they are likely to be able to these new psycho-active reform and less likely to substances that have been so can’t go on reoffend. If they are damaging. I think there’s an like that fundamentally failing in that extent to which the Prison resettle ment function, and too Service was slow to respond to many prisons are failing when this new form of the drugs you look at reoffending rates, problem. Even when I came into this role some people then you can say there’s something there that is in in the Prison Service would say to me, ‘look we’ve had crisis. I would rather call it a very serious problem drugs in jails for a long time it’s just another iteration’, than a crisis; it sounds a little bit journalistic talking I don’t think that’s the case. The impact of these about a crisis. I don’t mean to trivialise it, but I think substances was so unpredictable, so strong, causing it’s an overused expression. But there are, of course, immense harm; some of the self-harm we have seen, it really serious problems and as an Inspectorate I think is quite grotesque, it really has changed the situation in it’s our job to expose those problems and shine the prison, at a time when staff were simply not there to light, because inevitably those who run prisons and deal with it. those who administer them would not be So, some of these are longer term problems that volunteering the information that there are some have now changed in nature. Now, too, we’ve got the serious problems unless there was a degree of ageing population that is going to be with us for a independence and transparency.’

10 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 Considering solutions: The role of finances, mollycoddling or spoiling prisoners. It’s just about cultural shifts and public attitudes saying if you treat people decently and give them the opportunity to learn new skills or turn their lives AC: Both of the issues you’ve raised alongside around, that has to be better than holding them in safety and conditions, those of mental health and of an conditions which will almost inevitably lead to them ageing prisoner population, suggest that if we are to emerging more embittered, more alienated and more take a different approach, then we need a much more likely to reoffend.’ concentrated social and financial rethinking around the purpose of prisons. Can solutions be drawn from PC: ‘Yes we do, we need two things: one is the positive examples? finance. There isn’t any money at the moment. The Ministry of Justice has got a huge hole in its budget and PC: ‘Within this period of turmoil and crisis, there I can’t see any prospect in the next few years of there have also been encouraging, positive shifts that are being a lot more money being worth noting. For example, in the put there. Clearly resources are children and young people’s an issue, there’s got to be more ...I get complaints estate since 2017, the inspections staff, more staff of the right we have carried out in young quality are needed. about the offenders’ institutions have But there has to be an essentially shown some positive investment in the fabric of improvements which I hope are prisons as well, anyone who goes mismanaged not built on fragile foundations.’ into a prison like some of the Admittely, since the time of ones for which we issued Urgent contracts which are this interview, the picture in the Notifications, can see the not delivering better young people’s estate is now a appalling conditions and knows bit more opaque and may that it just can’t go on like that, value for money perhaps look less optimistic. Mr. it’s not sustainable. and are not Clarke went on to say that It’s not only just about positive examples can also be money being invested; as we saw delivering better found in the women’s custodial with the collapse of Carilion, it is estate: important that contracts have got physical ‘We have also seen some to be drawn up properly to get environments, so positive steps in the women’s value for money. Doing so will custodial estate. I think more of get the best effect and flexibility that needs to what is already being done needs in delivering what’s actually change too. to continue. For example, there’s needed in terms of improving some very good work being done conditions. In many prisons I visit, around trauma informed I get complaints about the practices; that’s terrific work that essentially mismanaged contracts which are not delivering should be applauded. better value for money and are not delivering better I would like to think that since 2017, there has physical environments, so that needs to change too.’ perhaps been something of a turning point in the way In similar vein, and following the events at HMP in which the Inspectorate is regarded and taken Birmingham, Mr. Clarke has also called for an honest seriously. Too many recommendations are still not being and impartial appraisal of what went wrong with the im plemented, but I’d like to think perhaps Liverpool contract at Birmingham. Mr. Clarke went on to add that and the Urgent Notifications marked a turning point. it is also important to work on the representation of Unfortunately, some of the things we’ve had to prisons in the public domain: report on have been such that it’s not hard to gain ‘We also need to work on some of the public public attention . commentary in order to enable a different attitude to With a place like Liverpool where all the windows prison. All too often you see in papers banner headlines were broken and I came across people in cells that were about ‘lags in luxury’, etc., which doesn’t actually help just in disgusting conditions, and the vermin and the in having a sensible, public de bate about where the rats and the rubbish and whatever else was going on. In public interest sits. In my mind, it is quite clear that the middle of a major city, in the middle of Liverpool, there is a very significant public interest in having there was this hell hole. There’s no need to be like that. people held in conditions which are likely to make it The new governor has got a grip now, but there’s no less likely that they will reoffend. That’s not about excuse for the dirt we saw.’

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 11 The role of the third sector and a last message to specific responsibility for coordinating third sector those who work in prisons activity within jails. We don’t see that happening often enough. I think that is something that more could be Before finishing off our conversation, I asked Mr. done about. I know from my time at the Charity Clarke for his views on how a sense of hope and Commission, that the charitable instinct of the nation is progress may be reinstated in prisons. More specifically, vast, but as is often the nature with charities and the we talked about the role of the various third sector third sector, it all needs coordinating so that efforts are organisations working inside prisons. Some of these not wasted, the resources are put in the best place, and organisations provide all sorts of support to prisoners, work is done constructively and collaboratively together including therapeutic, educational or arts-based with everybody else in the prison. We have to make programmes, that often enhance and reinforce the sure the coordination is right and is properly directed. work of prison staff. Thus, in light of the current But, nonetheless, the third sector’s involvement is problems we identified around missed opportunities invaluable and the prisoners just couldn’t function with regards to rehabilitation and resettlement, I asked without their support.’ Mr. Clarke what he thought the role of such charities and organisations may be in paving the way beyond Finally, as a way of concluding, I asked Mr. Clarke and away from the current ‘crisis’ points we identified for a message he would like to send to those who work with regards to safety, violence, conditions and in prisons. He recognised the efforts of prison staff purposeful activity. under the current, challenging climate and said, ‘prison As he explained, ‘the role of charities and the third staff are doing a great job, they are doing a really sector is absolutely crucial; they make a huge difficult job too. The public generally just don’t contribution in prisons. The worry I have is that not understand how difficult such job this is.’ He also added enough use is actually made of them, because it’s not that he hopes ‘in the coming months and years whilst well coordinated. When we published our revised the jobs of prison personnel will never be made easy, expectations we put in a new expectation about because by definition, these are not easy jobs, that they wanting to see a senior named member of staff with will be made easier than they currently are.’

12 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 Building up to today’s prison crisis: An Interview with the former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick Professor Nick Hardwick was formerly HM Chief Inspector of Prisons and Chair of the Parole Board. He is interviewed by Dr Anastasia Chamberlen , Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick

Looking back: Long-term changes in the sector So overall, if you took a much longer-term view, I think things have improved. But if you took a shorter- AC: In 2010 you became the Chief Inspector of term view, over the past decade or so there has been a Prisons and stayed in this role until 2016. Has a lot variation in the kinds of challenges facing prisons. ’ changed in the past decade? AC: When you took up the role in 2010 what NH: ‘In some ways it would be a mixed picture. were your main objectives? What did you hope to Generally speaking, things have improved. If you look achieve? at the position of young people for instance, when I NH: ‘If you look at the Inspectorate’s findings over started as HMCIP there were about a third more young a decade that we published in my last Annual Report people in custody. The number of young people in for 2015/16, what basically happened was that from custody has dropped two thirds over the last decade. So about 2006 to 2010, there had been a consistent but that’s a positive change. slow improvement. The Inspectorate’s findings were Look at policing and police custody. Back in the that things were getting better. So, when I took up the 1980s when I ran Centrepoint we saw young people role my aim was to continue to do that. There were who had been abused. But we didn’t think we could go possibilities at the time with talk about rehabilitation, to the police with that problem and it didn’t mean there reducing the prison population, normalising wasn’t a problem, it was that we didn’t think the police conditions, getting the numbers of women in custody could solve it. Our options and approach on this today down: all these seemed realistic prospects then. would probably be different, but would not be But from 2012 onwards things deteriorated and completely better. there were very sharp deteriorations in a series of issues Similarly, if you look at prisons: there are obviously which came together. This includes major reductions in problems in prisons, but, if you take a longer-term staffing. This affected especially the most experienced view, overall conditions have improved. The health staff, which is the most damaging bit of it. We then service in prisons is now managed by the NHS, that’s had a series of quite destabilising policy initiatives, and better than it used to be decades ago. But on the other on top of that we had the sudden surge of drugs and side of that, I certainly think that prisons in the last 5 or all those things that came together and had a pretty 6 years have indisputably deteriorated very sharply and disastrous impact on the prison system. today there are new issues. The proportion of people in prison who are there for violence or sexual offences The role of staff in giving prisoners a sense of has grown so you could argue that today we have a hope and the impact of shortages in staff more challenging population . When I worked at Nacro in the early 1990s I NH: ‘If you look at the published staffing statistics, remember very distinctly how we were having a big operational staff were cut by about 25 per cent staff meeting and it was announced the prison between 2011-2013. It wasn’t just the numbers, there population had reached 40,000; we all gasped in horror was a particular reduction in the numbers of at how high it was — and now that number has more experienced staff; they got rid of the most experienced than doubled. Related to the issue of numbers, there people as they were the ones that cost most. That’s are many older people in prison who the prison system why it’s now so difficult to reverse what happened. isn’t catering for. This is because even though now they are recruiting

This interview was conducted in May 2018 and thus may not reflect some of the latest developments. The AC abbreviation refers to Anastasia Chamberlen and NH refers to Nick Hardwick. The editors of this special issue would like to thank Professor Nick Hardwick for taking part in this interview.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 13 more staff, it takes time for those staff to gain the NH: ‘I think it depends on how you measure a necessary experience. crisis. To some extent the system in terms of what you Meanwhile, under Grayling there was a policy of can measure has slid back to how it was 10 years ago, toughening prisons up and reduced access to so the progress that was made is now undone. If you rehabilitation and other opportunities. But, prisons and look at the suicide rate in 2016-17 it got to a point prisoners need to get their sense of hope from when it was higher than it had ever been before. But somewhere. The prisoner must be able to generally say looking at the data you can also see that we had been ‘I can get through my sentence, I can get out, I can in this position before; what’s new about this is some of make this bearable, I can get through it.’ But if people the relationship issues are now different because of the think that whatever they do the system is unfair staff losses, and the consequent loss of experience. towards them, they lose hope. Then coupled with this I think that because the malaise is more mentality, if staffing isn’t consistent and there is a big widespread it’s more difficult now for individual prisons turnover in staff, then all those things come together to avoid the downward trend because prison and damage the relationship between staff and governors have less control over what is happening in prisoners. These are relationships upon which prisoners their prison. Also, there are certainly new issues in depend and putting them under threat creates a terms of the number of elderly prisoners that the general sense of instability. ’ system has to cope with. I’m not completely convinced that the drugs issue is Disorder in prisons today that new. There have always been issues with drugs in prison AC: Recently we saw Suicide and violence and if it’s not one thing it would increases in incidents of disorder. are not just serious be another. I think that such Are these expressions of disorder issues aren’t greater than they’d simply linked to the rise in the use issues in been before; the difference now of new psycho-actives substances? themselves, but is that the handling of such NH: ‘In general terms it issues shows that the prison seems to be that the factors that they’re a symptom hasn’t got the capacity to contribute to riots in some manage these problems. instances include legitimate of a loss of Suicide and violence are not grievances that are widespread control generally. just serious issues in themselves, and combined with poor but they’re a symptom of a loss relationships between staff and of control generally. So, I think inmates. Then, if you have the ready availability of there’s a loss of control in the system which means the either alcohol or drugs which reduce inhibitions and other things you might want to do can’t happen you have a ring leader and then also have a spark that because the system is too unstable for them. sets things off, then all of those things together can The current Chief Inspector has made it more create disorder. But they don’t usually boil over; on the difficult for those issues to be ignored. I think the whole the system is good at putting a lid on these Inspectorate was powerful in describing what was things when they happen. happening inside prison in these past few years. We However, it is misleading to talk about the ‘prison have tried to make the reports accessible in a way that crisis’ in the sense that it represents some great people could understand and doing so gave these combination of events across the system like there issues greater media coverage. ’ was back in the early ‘80s. I think what has happened AC: It sounds like, for you this is not necessarily a up to now has a less dramatic look. There have been new crisis but it has a few new features. many unnecessary deaths, each of those were a crisis NH: ‘I think that the situation has elements of for the individual concerned and their family and the what had happened before and some new elements staff who had to deal with it, but the system as a too. But the progress and advances that had been whole was able to contain many such situations. At made before were recently destroyed due to poor the same time however, the fact that the death rate decisions, and it will take time to get back to where we can be and has been lower shows that what started. ’ happened was not inevitable. ’ AC: Let us unpack the notion of ‘prison crisis’ a What caused the prison crisis? little more then. Do you think this is a unique moment for prisons in which they are in a deeper, worse state Staffing issues and a crisis of relationships than before or is this a picture that corresponds to its NH: ‘In my view the deterioration of prisons was a past or its nature as a system? result of political and policy decisions. I don’t think you

14 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 can construct a logical scenario when suddenly prison were lost, maybe only a fairly small number of people governors and prison staff all decide to do their job less were actually involved; but, then once this happens, well. Not across the system. You can’t explain what those prisoners have to be moved somewhere else. happened as a result of individual failures. Having said That then disrupts the prison that they’re being moved this, there were some prisons that were worse than into, and you get that kind of knock on effect. So, I others, so I’m not saying that there were not individual think you need some headroom in the system. It features to this crisis too. But if you look at the pattern appears to me there’s a link between when that overall, I don’t think an explanation of it being down to headroom gets pinched and when you get more individual prisons and staff is tenable and I think if you trouble. look at the coincidence of the rise of deaths with the The other point to note about overcrowding is that declines in staff and the decrease in deaths when new it is not simply a question of physical overcrowding in staff start, that says a lot. It was a political and policy that cells are doubled up. It also means you don’t have failure. Politicians and policy makers at the time were the capacity of prison staff to deal with the size of the warned about deteriorating conditions, but they didn’t population growth. In practice this means, prisoners respond to those warnings. can not get to visits or it’s too big of a queue for the What prisons rely on is the relationships between phones, etc. ’ staff and prisoners. You need to have staff on the ground in a consistent enough Looking back and looking way to do that work. If you forward: Prison reformers simply rely on procedural security, It’s about staffing should not neglect the harm locks and bars and CCTV, as numbers but it’s of crime some systems do, you can probably on that level clamp also about making AC: You’ve had at least a down on the violence, but you decade’s worth of experience in can’t do the rehabilitative activity sure that the this area, in the criminal justice you also need to do. So, if you’re systems in place are system in general, what areas do preparing someone to leave you think are important areas to prison, they need to make their fair and aren’t focus on from now on? own way to work in the morning, NH: ‘I believe in prison they need to show some initiative arbitrary, so that reform. However, what drives the and autonomy. And if you don’t prisons have some increase in prison population has have the staffing numbers for been people doing longer such relationships that’s where sense of hope. sentences for serious offences things can go wrong. You can and those on the prison reform keep prisons safe by locking front, often avoid acknowledging people in their cells all day, but that doesn’t do anything that issue. Those offences are serious, they have hurt for when those prisoners eventually get out. It’s about people, a high proportion of them would be around staffing numbers but it’s also about making sure that violence against women, for example. Thus, if you are the systems in place are fair and aren’t arbitrary, so that going to have an argument for decreasing the prison prisons have some sense of hope. No one is talking population, you need an argument across the board. It about luxury here, what we are talking about is the needs to be an argument that properly reflects and basics and the incentives for people to behave well. ’ understands the harm that people cause, an approach that recognises such harm impact’s but nevertheless still Overcrowding and capacity allows treating people decently. Similarly, if you produce a narrative that is entirely NH: ‘If you analyse prison population figures prisoner-focused you focus on some characteristics and against prison capacity every so often there will be a not others. We know that prisoners are real pinch point. At those pinch points there seems to overrepresented in terms of mental health problems, or be a spike in deaths, and when you have a wider gap, having been in care, but still a large potion of prisoners more capacity, death rates seem to decline. The issue is don’t have those characteristics. It is important not to not population per se, the issue is capacity and when imply prisoners are simply a victim of circumstance. If the system gets to about 99 per cent of its capacity, at you remove the agency from the prisoner you are that point you have to start putting prisoners where effectively saying ‘well, prisoners don’t have choices there is space rather than where they need to be. If you about what they did and they don’t have a choice look at the series of riots that we had in winter of about what they will do in the future’. Whereas on the 2016/2017, part of that was caused because wings whole I think most of them have made bad choices and

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 15 could have made other choices; they have agency. Dumping it on the people who are doing the job on the Because of this agency, I always believe in the future ground and criticising them is a mistake. People who they could make better choices. But, if you say, ‘he’s a are progressive, interested in reform sometimes seem victim of circumstances’ then I think that you to be as prone to do that as people from other dehumanise people. Of course, I’m not denying that perspectives. I think that is a mistake. ’ many people will be badly affected by trauma. So, if we think the prison population should be Addressing the crisis of community services lower, we need to be consistent about that in terms of campaigns and need to be able to describe that in a AC: Institutions like prison and parole, where do way that doesn’t downplay the harm people have you predict they’ll be in a few years from now. Do you done. I think it’s ethical that people who have crossed think there is room for them to improve? the boundaries of what society says is acceptable to be NH: ‘On the whole I’m reasonably more punished. But I don’t think the only punishment we optimistic about prisons because within prisons there should have on our sleeve is prison. I think we should are still the governors and staff who know what to look into other solutions too. do; who want to do the right thing. There are staff The prison reform movement, academics, etc. have who will get more experience, you can see how that nothing really to say about what we should do with would improve. people like Worboys other than lock them up for I think the biggest problem in the system is actually longer, even doing that, can such people be reformed? in probation and community services which have been Or can we see them as reformed? entirely wrecked. I’m not sure that now there’s I remember when I was at the IPCC there was a anything to build up from. Community services almost case concerning a woman with a daughter with need to be reinvented; that’s where we have the most Down’s Syndrome; they were being tormented, bullied, serious issues. by kids on the local estate where they lived. Although I remember hearing someone say ‘the the behaviour of the youths who were tormenting Metropolitan police is recruiting 300 extra staff to deal them was relatively minor it had made their lives a with gang crime in London’. My view would be we may misery. And they shouldn’t have put up with it. What need to do that, but we also need to recruit c ommunity are those who believe in reform, who don’t think long workers to address such an issue. It’s the destruction sentences are the answer to everything, what have they of those community services more broadly that will got to say about all of that? And how do we have a impact on the criminal justice system in the end. It is credible narrative on that? I think that’s a big gap in not about sticking plasters. Solutions are about the both research and policy. range of services in the community. If you take parole, And that has consequences for the work we all do. quite often the biggest problem now with IPPs is for Looking at serious offence rates post release, they are people who have got very chaotic behaviour, there less than 1 per cent which at first sight looks pretty aren’t facilities in the community to manage or good. That probably means about every year between supervise them. Thus, the issues aren’t really in the 12-20 people released from prisosn commit a violent prison or parole system, they’re out in the community offence and quite often it’s a violent offence against or rather, they are in the lack of facilities in the women. This means a woman gets smashed up or community. ’ beaten or assaulted. If you put it like that, it sounds very AC: It sounds like prison to some extent came to different from the less than 1 per cent statistic. replace the lack of services in the community There’s also another issue regarding prison staff. NH: ‘Exactly. You can see this clearly with regards We confuse people doing very difficult things and to people with mental health issues: why are people getting it wrong sometimes and people deliberately with mental health issues in prison? But, what is the abusing their powers. You get out of bed in the alternative? That’s not to say there couldn’t be morning wanting to do the right thing, wanting to help alternatives, there should be alternatives, but they don’t and then mess up or something you hadn’t expected exist at the moment. happens. There are, of course, people who are doing So all in all, solutions to all these problems mean something deliberately negligent too. I think if you community investment. I’m not an abolitionist, I think don’t make that distinction it can have wider we need prisons and I think the prison estate should be consequences. modernised. But in the end I would put most of my If you look at instances where people have died in investment into community resources rather than into prisons, you can probably find things that staff on the the prison. That’s where we need it most and that’s ground could have done better and could have saved where we would get most impact from generally. lives. But you need to be clear that the overall picture is Community investment also means, inevitably, the most such because of policies and political decisions. positive impact on prisons. ’

16 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 From poem into spoken word Jason N. Smith is a Safe Ground alumnus, spoken word artist and former prisoner

Everything inside is slow again today, Let’s glide on by along his journey down a long and we have got through April to May, dark corridor, because as you now realise he’s been but unlocked for showers one by one through horrid wars, but before that, he would dine on and faces reveal that something’s wrong. upper crust crumbs descended like dead stars as he stuffed them into pockets and stood looking through A prisoner is hanged and presumed dead scarred eye sockets believing that one day, one day life Now although CPR there’s no pulse read. skies would open wide and he would be allowed to fly While in my dreams and in bed I snuggled across dividing lines, after dragging himself through grit my mate fought for breath and struggled. believing he can have much more than this life it seems Once orderly and cleaner on the servery he’s been in since the beginning. now there’s crime scene tape barring entry. But now he’s no longer living as his body lies there I can still see his smiling young face, limp, and where it should be his family next to him, he’s and fortitude to get through this place. on journey after being zipped tight into a black bag and left on a gurney in an overcrowded corridor before We chatted yesterday, he seemed OK, being pushed into that cold sliding mortuary draw. even touched fist throughout the day. But let us pause, Happy go lucky when he walked landings, Let’s pause and leave that parked there while we but going like that defies understanding. talk about 2062 suicides since 1990, 59 homicides and 1002 awaiting classification. Why man? Why? I just cannot get it. In this nation in 2016 there were 354 bodies lying I always thought you were mentally fit, limp, now with a growing number of mind altering What took off the hope from your face, substances, drugs, prison deaths are set to rise higher and your presence within this place? than inflation ever could. You didn’t have to suffer in silent pain, Hold u p, let’s pull up and look back a bit to before With lines of mates to listen, explain. him lying limp on a gurney and let’s reverse the Whatever it was we could have shared. journey back from an overcrowded NHS corridor, to Maybe you did not know that I cared. back before being zipped into that black body bag and before he despera tely... It goes without saying you’ll be missed Wait, let me pause a second and take a deep breath the brews we shared, us getting pissed. before reliving an etched picture of a hanging corpse I’ll always look for your bouncing walk, deeply scored into thoughts and heart shredding sounds but I pray you are beyond these walls. echoing down long linages of unjustly cut short family trees, with deep grief not understanding the loss of life He was born into the world with so much to offer, after entering a hungry hole and futile struggle to survive . but within a capitalising mass production of assets off- It is not right the slashing and burning of budgets setting taxes, he become just a number, in a place and much needed resources for personal causes of where men walk shell-shocked and numb, but mentally political decisions breaking already broken systems, and they are cocked guns expecting hammers to drop. Yet when presented with facts and figures there on a another loss within a prison system afflicted victims, page they still do not listen. What’s with them in this until lying there limp. day and age? But let us go back a bit to him sitting in a cell alone Is it a lack of strong political leadership that can fix amid his hell trying to atone for or flee from inner the controversy of prisoners being held in overcrowded demons, while unknowingly not seeing three mamba conditions, because rising levels of violence show fear is fiends creeping, until he feels that drug-crazed cast a daily reality for people in prisons. glass shattering his visage into millions of fissures and But how many more body temperatures are to sharp homemade shank knifes malicious glint reflecting drop morbidly cold into an enfolding embrace and race his tormentors eyes under a harsh prison cell light. prematurely away until erased. How much more DNA

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 17 spread under harsh lights from sharp knives let slip from underprivileged, traumatised and disadvantaged parts slick grips to clatter within impressionable minds and of its body? reflect a perpetrators eyes. How many more mother’s In a society of community, relationships are hands striving to dam leaking out heart shredding paramount in success or failure. How we relate to sounds echoing down long lineages of unjustly cut others can determine acceptance or rejection and short family trees, How many more on fatherless unhealthy perceptions stemming from under developed journeys blown here and there like a directionless relationship growth is born out broadly both inside and breeze, and how much more denying the un-hiding of outside the justice system. Healthy relationship growth prisons hidden divisions that when revealed can widen promotes trust and a sense of safety which helps to realisations, so that the village decides to raise a walk confidently, how is it for those traumatised and fatherless child that expects to be accepted, but is living in an environment that is not safe and trust is institutionally rejected. rewarded with negative consequences. Or will more politicking politicians continue picking One consequence is released prisoners do not from a mixed bag of politrix and try to ‘tridently’ strive make long term plans because of unpredictability and out of situations with misfired stereotypes percolating fear instilled within hostile environments. Another wildly inside and regurgitating consequence is lack of behaviours? relationship ties causing an ‘every man for himself mentality,’ which Institutionalisation One consequence works contrary to a community In monolithic states of imprisonment is society. relationships dictate, so without In prison institutions healthy communication weighty that released prisoners do not have access to matters become lost in red tape internet, have to pay above three or hidden away under carpets for prisoners do not times the rate for telephone calls another day that may never make long term and a re unprepared for society come. in its current state; there is a But gaps cannot be bridged, plans because of social divide with demarcation chasms filled and relationships the unpredictability lines between those linked into healed without a two way community via ability and receptive conversation. and fear instilled experience and those who Communication break do not. barriers, dictates progression, within hostile People living before internet acceptance, inclusion, support, environments. or mobile phone technology stability and simple gift of ‘being’ communicated and established settled, but there is a term titled face to face relationships. resettlement entailing giving advice, guidance and However, in this millennia isolation and depression is training to help humans re-settle into normal life. increasing and attention spans are decreasing in a click However, for those from broken homes and walking get linked quick mind-set mentality. around in states of hyper vigilance instigated by abuse, Societal progression is now a networked past trauma, trauma of prison environments, mental relationship and without necessary education, skills and illness and never even lived a life of simply being, the experience the unprepared do not progress and are cut term re-settle falls short and another term needs to be short like Wi-Fi signals turned off. coined. Settlement. The prison system is currently reacting to matters Prison should be ascribed a parent role in the trying to contain while working with budgets in deficit context of a parent child connection and then rather than proactively equipping necessary skills, examined to see how does applies for those within the education and experience to bridge divides, despite the system. good will of many working within the system. If an institution can be ascribed to a parent child With austerity, inflation and the nation struggling relationship, how do we describe effects of actions or to maintain a grip on world economical markets, inactions to address underlying issues of children in societies eyes and resources will continue to have a their care who have previously spoken through negative blind spot for those beyond the margin. behaviours, and just what are the responsibilities of a parent to both the child and society? Comment If it takes a village to raise a child then by extension in the topology of a world community what are the Congesting negatives into one place breeds and responsibilities of all other parents/institutions to condenses even more negativity. A prison environment

18 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 conditions behaviours and people establish ties that re- rates static or in escalation. There cannot be uniform establish outside prison; whether individuals are aware formulas for human needs. or not, environments influence. Too much prisoner Prison tries to prepare people for release and there stimuli are a promotion of crime, drugs, money, hostility are increasing numbers of positive initiatives striving for and mistrust. Inevitably prisoners are conditioned with inroads however, this is curtailed by lack of funding, only a minority truly able to break free. budget cuts, punitive philosophies and prevelant Some offenders enter prisons never having used concerns of security. Programmes promoting true self- harmful substances, but leave in cycles of addiction. reflection and creative expression needs to be driven. The drugs problem further aggravates the problems of Society living evolves while people are inside prisoners addressing offending. The onus is on prisons. For those warehoused, bereft of homes, jobs, individuals to stop offending behaviour and re-enter relationships, social structures and routines, the society successfully however, when the self is buried challenge of stability amidst pressures of society living under substances, getting lost in both uniform and wild becomes harder; even those with jobs struggle, so it is environments, self-identity becomes lost. Many ‘bury that much harder for those facing the stigma of ‘ex- heads’ under prescription medication to deal with ups prisoner.’ Too many are being released unprepared and and downs, this stands in the way of ‘self’ fall back into negative conditionings. improvement. It takes great strength to focus on self- Without fundamental changes allowing precedence identity, self-control and self-progression amid of positivity and a cohesion of both society and prison, atmospheres of so many negatives. prisons will continue to fail offenders and society. Eliminating factors precipitating offending needs The system is on the ‘back foot’ and reacting to addressing before ‘offenders’ are imprisoned. Instilling pressures rather than being proactive with unified moral values cannot be programmed with positive and agenda for change. Hard to reach offenders need to be negative reinforcements, this only ensures compliance. guided to see the need for change and desistance from Good moral values come from the heart however, action or behaviour can only lastingly be done by prisoners have difficulty with open hearts in prison; this showing another way through opportunities. takes a strength and understanding many do not realise Opportunity changes futures. amongst influences of environment. Prison Released prisoners should have PTS counselling like dehumanizes, strips self-respect, buries identity and returning soldiers from active service, but this. When disengages people from responsibility; deprivation of sentencing mothers judges need to be more interaction with communities only reinforces this. considerate because they not only sentence a mother, There are many in prison coming from but their children too. dysfunctional families and/or have learning difficulties, The incarcerated should be trained from day one It is beyond probation’s scope to reach a people who of imprisonment in preparation for tackling universal have buried themselves, prison is far from a place credit, housing and how to stop re-entering this conducive to restoring trust; therefore prisoners and ex- revolving door. prisoners live isolated (even around close ones) and There are many more strands synapsing along continue similar patterns. neural paths and exploding within grey matter. After Rehabilitation revolutions cannot work without the shock wave has finished rippling within my polices beyond the prison gate. Fear, cynicism from subconscious I will revisit ground zero and present prisoners, government and society, will keep offending salvaged gems.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 19 Chaos and Conflict: The dog and the frying pan Fred is a student at Milton Keynes College, HMP Ranby

I am 5 years old. why people around me were crying, I didn’t know what I am in the kitchen, looking at the family dog, her it signified. name is Jenny, and she is a Jack Russell. I am 41 now. She has had pups and they are still born. I am not sure what will happen when I am exposed again. She is a dog but a mother too; I can feel her In my bed my mother brings the homemade crisps anguish and her pain and suffering. Instructed by my and shortbread penguins cast from ice lolly moulds. mother and handed the black plastic refuse sack, I am to put the still born into the bag.

This is my first exposure to death; I fight the tears we share.

It seems so unceremonious, a great gulf opening before her beautiful eyes. Enter my stepfather, something is wrong and he is angry, he is shouting at my mother. Jenny cowers in the corner.

In a split second he has reached for the hot frying pan sits on the stove. It is in his hand, he launches is at the wall above me and my mother.

Hot oil and food debris scattered across the air pelting myself and my mother; the pan falls to the floor with a loud crash.

(Note on death) I have only ever had to deal with death on one other occasion in my life, that was the death of my grandmother on my mother’s side. This was a few years later. At the funeral I didn’t cry, I couldn’t understand

20 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 Scatter when they come Kelly Roberts is an artist and guest performer at Safe Ground’s A Matter of Life and Death event, September 2018

Stop! Don’t Run Pressure tugging tight at the neck Succumb to the power It’s porta —call Of state This is how they serve to protect Patrolling the slum walls And keep us in check Seeking out those With no accountability Destined for a slippery slope Mothers of the minority Mischief trip fall Bleed tsunami tears Into the tight grip From the bearing of their womb Of incarceration. Lying lifeless above scarlet pools Dragged along bars to harden Washing away the trauma Then Infected with the incriminating poison. From a world desensitised Decaying bouquets and candle wax cease into To sight of Black Death Kingsland concrete. The Brown girl’s eyes raged red Chocolate loiterers congregate outside corner She cried! shops like vultures Another black body dead Finding refuge on the sides of pavements He died after Intimidating pedestrians with words unspoken. Being racially profiled I used to know a girl And Justice was never London met Displaced in the tower block maze Death his penalty Brown with curls Another black body She wore gold in her teeth Made victim of police brutality Skin thick and seasoned like meat Excessive and unnecessary Smoking cigarettes in stairs wells Force is used 139 times a day in London Littering the estate with the butts Stopped and search 4 times more Of her broken dreams Likely to be a suspect Of carrying a sharp object In the hood she would chill Genetics target capsized by life With the mandem posted up on the block Then locked up in the pen In the manor Because society never accounted for them. The Siren would sound A Warning shot! The brown girl would never committed a crime Blues lights flicker in sight But still feared doing the time Scatter when they come As stigma lives on the surface her skin Run, Fled! Even when innocent she could be taken in I C fed! Sat at the back of a cop car Coz nothing aint changed star! I see 1 male The prejudice is still alive Taken to reprimand a brother And it thrives in the prison system Then another, then another Penalising a generating I see them ambush Suffocating at the wrists by A father, a son, a human being Silver bracelets that only shine But he was vex and must of resisted arrest Behind their backs. Slammed into the floor The brown girl is left with silent screams Face plastered to the ground Spending the day with her 5 year old niece His teeth crushed against tiles dirt cold Siren sounds Don’t move or make a sound It’s the police He wouldn’t want to be Her niece sinks into her arms Sent down town in a body bag And repeats ‘I’m scared of the police’ Don’t breathe, it might be his last breath She then knew the fear ran deep. Respect the authority Does a 5 year old white child have the same fear of Or he could be tackled with brunt violence the police growing up on London streets? Finding a knee press up against his chest

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 21 A crisis of hope? Long term prisoners’ experiences in Category A environments Will Styles is Governor of HMP Whitemoor

Introduction changes in legislation have increased the ‘starting points’ for consideration of the In England and Wales, there are over 900 Category minimum period of custody for a range of A male prisoners. These men can expect to spend homicide offences. As a result, the average decades in maximum security conditions, often tariff imposed upon people sentenced to life not knowing when, or even if, they will be (excluding whole life sentences) increased released. Arguably, these men may be living from 12.5 to 21.1 years between 2003 and hopeless and miserable lives. Yet those visiting a 2013. In sum, an increasing number of men high security prison are likely to find a busy and and women are serving sentences which, until often apparently cheerful daily routine of work, fairly recently, were not only extremely education, gymnasium and social activities; where uncommon, but were also considered more or men choose their meals and think about what less unsurvivable. 1 canteen goods they will buy each week. Many of them will talk positively about their lives, families Moreover, Category A prisoners are a unique and hopes for the future. That is what I found group, likely to be imprisoned significant distances from when I took up post as Governor at HMP home and family, subject to extreme security and Whitemoor in 2016. It surprised me and struck me supervision, serving very long sentences, experience a as an important first impression. At the time I was high degree of uncertainty regarding their futures and also studying for a Criminology Masters at a very low level of control over their prison life. They are Cambridge and focussed my dissertation on what perhaps the prisoner group that experience the greatest ‘hope’ means to, and for, Category A prisoners in and most enduring difficulties associated with dispersal prisons. The key aims of this study were imprisonment. How then in such circumstances could to identify: these men have and hold on to hope? o How Category A prisoners define hope, and what Hope impact they believe it has for them and for dispersal prisons; Dufrane and Leclair suggest, ‘hope can be defined as an inner confidence that an expected and desired o If hope exists for Category A prisoners, how it is outcome will occur ’. 2 But for Adam, serving a 30-year generated; and; sentence at HMP Whitemoor, the highly emotional experience of hope can also be described in much more o Factors, circumstances, experiences and conditions vivid terms. For Adam, hope is: that extinguish hope. the day after the night…it’s the dawn, it’s not seeing a wall in front of you, it is seeing a In 2017 I conducted one to one and groups road that you can walk down and having a interviews with twenty five Category A prisoners at target and reaching the end. I don’t know HMP Whitemoor, HMP Full Sutton and HMP Long how to explain, it’s just that glimmer of light, Lartin. In this paper I offer an overview of my findings. that beacon. In England and Wales, the number of prisoners serving long sentences is increasing. As Crewe, Hulley Asking men who are serving very long prison and Wright suggest, sentences to talk about hope presented them with a

1. Crewe, B, Hulley, S & Wright, S. (2017). Swimming with the Tide: Adapting to Long-Term Imprisonment. Justice Quarterly, 34:3, 517- 541, 518. 2. Dufrane, K. & Leclair, S. (1984). Using Hope in the Counselling Process. Counselling and Values. October 1984. Volume 29 (1), 32-41, 33.

22 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 significant and at times painful challenge. David was time, I was getting in trouble because I didn’t given a 28-year tariff and said: care, I was in prison, I was going to die in prison, I had nothing to lose. Now, I’ve got I don’t really believe in hope. I have got 28 things to lose, I’ve got things to worry about. years. My tariff will expire when I am 46 so I have got a responsibility to my family. I feel there is no hope, no matter how you look at worse now than I did when I first started this it. Everyone has washed their hands of you sentence... Yes, it’s a hundred times worse and you’re in this environment, compressed now for sure. and concentrated with the most dangerous criminals in the UK for the next forever years. Many of the participants were able to feel and express personal hope, but a minority claimed to be Thus, faith and dedication to feelings of hope are able to do neither. This then raises an interesting usually conditional on one’s circumstances and special question; why are levels of hope so variable and where and temporal environment. This is corroborated by does hope come from? The participants suggested Corrigan who raises an important question: hope was generated not as a result of help from others for example prison staff or other prisoners, but from At times, hope seems to have limitless inside themselves. Kevin commented: potential for promoting well-being and quality of it’s good when you see staff life, which begs the Many of the helping someone, that question, might there be boosts it up a bit more but limits to the phenomenon of participants were as for where does hope hope?. 3 able to feel and come from, that would be me, that is the type of A small number of the express personal person I am. If it’s going to participants talked about their happen it’s going to view that hope has very clear hope, but a happen inside. Yes, self- limitations in their case. They minority claimed to determination. suggested that time was easier to serve when they felt they had no be able to hope and nothing to lose. Abdi, do neither. The experience of a long for example, is 12 years into a 35- prison sentence year tariff, and has clearly struggled with making progress: Generally speaking, participants that had served longer appeared more I think having hope is the whole problem in settled and accepting of their sentence. They appeared prison. I was sold a dream, that I will be better able to recognise hope in their life. All those downgraded, progressed, go to a therapeutic interviewed described difficulties in the early stages of community, sort out my problems or whatever their sentence and a challenging period of adjustment I needed towards finishing off my sentence. I spanning years. For example, Arthur said: never felt bad like this until I started to behave myself and engage in courses and look to a when I first got that 36 years, I was absolutely future that really, is impossible for me to get. numb. I was here 3 weeks after being Before I started to do all these courses I felt sentenced and a switch went, I’m never going happy because I knew where I stood, I was home, that is it, you are dying in prison. I happy being wherever I was, I knew I wasn’t switched off and I wanted to die. I had no going nowhere. And then I thought, let me hope whatsoever, and at that point I would try something new, be good, do these courses rather they had given me the death penalty. and I saw one or two people progress and that could be me — it gave me false hope. Ben described fighting against the system for Yes, I bought the dream, that I still can’t get… four or five years before he could stop blaming and now I give up on it. When I didn’t care others, accept responsibility for his actions and about what was happening, that was the best come to terms with his sentence. Other men

3. Corrigan, P. (2014). Can there be false hope in recovery? The British Journal of Psychiatry. 205, 423–424, 423.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 23 described a painful monotony and pointlessness in potential for one mistake in a year to negate anything their life. Josh explained: good he had done and remove any chance of being downgraded that he might have had: I’m in prison, I know I’m going to die in prison, so I just go through the motions, eat you can have one bad day and as a result of food, go to work, come back, call my that it affects your whole year, no matter how family. Existing just existing. We are like much work you have done. zombies in reality.

Family The experience of being Category A Hairston’s work on family ties during Almost all those interviewed shared a story of imprisonment suggests that external ties are important frustration and distress regarding various issues, at all stages, even for those serving long prison including the visitor checking process. Leroy explained: sentences. 5 Indeed, Gibbs’s work on the disruption and distress of going from the street to jail, suggests a It has been years and years since I seen my heightening of the importance of family during mum. As a Cat A if someone from Jamaica imprisonment: ‘the importance of family can reach comes over they can’t get to metaphysical proportions in the see me. That is part of our eyes of the confined.’ .6 This is Cat A depression, that is very supported by the fact that the harsh, no-one can come and A strong sense of most consistent theme in my see you. If you don’t hope, hope was attached interviews was the importance you don’t care, simple. of family. For instance, Kevin, to having a belief in who has served 12 years and A strong sense of hope was has a 28-year tariff, linked his attached to having a belief in making progress sense of hope with being a making progress through the through the parent: prison system. In those participants for whom that belief prison system. having someone that you was weak, there appeared to be see grow and someone who a corresponding weak sense of is the most important person hope. Crewe asserts that progression through the in my life, that is my daughter. That definitely system is a vital part of the experience for prisoners gives me a sense of hope and some sort of serving long sentences. 4 There was a clear feeling that purpose. the Category A system is unfair, secretive and irrational. Thus, John linked hope and legitimacy: For many of the men, the connection to family was clearly the most significant factor in developing and you asked us if we feel the system is maintaining hope and coping with very long sentences. legitimate, well there isn’t any legitimacy. Dav, a foreign national prisoner is 2 years into a 25-year Right now, the whole length of sentence tariff and similarly to Kevin, said: that people are being given is not legitimate and being on A Cat for 15 or 20 You have to find something to survive. This is years is not legitimate. No legitimacy my young son, my wife and my daughter. I equals no hope to me. have somebody waiting for me. Maybe I am not a good father, and now I will never get Part of the lack of legitimacy talked about the chance to be one. But I have hope to be a frequently by the men related to a belief that any good grandfather one day, and this gives me mistake they made was blown out of proportion and power to survive and to think about the held against them forever. Abdi talked about the future.

4. Crewe, B. (2011). Soft Power in Prison: Implications for staff–prisoner relationships, liberty and legitimacy. European Journal of Criminology, 8(6), 455–468, 459. 5. Hairston, C. (1991). Family Ties During Imprisonment: Important to Whom and For What? Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, Vol 18. 87-103, 94. 6. Gibbs, J. (1982). Disruption and Distress: Going from the Street to Jail. In Parisi, N. (ed), Coping with Imprisonment. (pp. 29-44). USA: Sage Publications, 37.

24 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 But for many of the participants there was also a Honestly it makes you angry and tired at the clear association between hope and pain when same time. discussing their families. Being apart from them, and knowing that situation would probably have to be The men understood the need for rules and their endured for decades was clearly painful. There was a enforcement, but expressed frustration about rules that clear sense of loss amongst men, when describing time, didn’t seem legitimate, that even staff could not people and an outside world that continues without explain. These relatively minor issues were small pains, them: Leroy said with clear sadness: that endured day after day could become hugely corrosive and draining. Danny summarised it: oh man, my oldest kid is 18, I came to prison when he was 3, I don’t even know my kids, I it’s not the major things, because we came to prison when the second child was in understand the need for them, it’s the petty the belly, so I don’t even know my kids. I really minor things; that is what destroys your soul wish I did though. and eventually kills your hope in here. For some men the upset and anxiety they felt leading up to, during and Pris oners are of course not alone in their prison following a visit was such that it community; their lives and living deterred them from receiving environment are shared by the future visits. For Simon, the Observations staff working with them. emotions attached to visits were regarding staff were Observations regarding staff hard to cope with: were generally neutral, though generally neutral, most participants acknowledged to be truthful I don’t even though most that many staff do a difficult job. want visits right now. Seeing Few of those interviewed were them when they come and participants able to talk about experiences leave, it brings up a whole acknowledged that where staff members have had a heap of emotions. If I hear notably positive influence in their my family are doing alright, many staff do a life. Jake suggested with a note then I am alright. They are difficult job. of sarcasm: my hope, and that is what matters to me. But visits well I haven’t really met a right now, no, it’s just too much. member of staff that’s changed my life in a massive way yet, but I’ve only been in three years so its early days yet. Authority, bureaucracy, frustration and legitimacy Pete however was able to recall a recent incident where members of staff showed him care and Zelditch argues, ‘something is legitimate if it is in kindness in his break up with his wife after seven accord with the norms, values, beliefs, practices and years in prison: procedures of a group. ’ 7 Jack commented on an issue raised by several participants; that of staff not having I had some good help, when I was on the answers, or there being no consistency in the answers phone one day when I split up with the Mrs that were provided: and I got off and I was sobbing, I didn’t show it, I walked back to my cell and there was a one thing that is very annoying is that you can female officer, Rachel. She knew, and she go to three different officers and ask the same came in there and sat on the bed with me, question and you will get three different and was talking to me. Yes, staff were helpful, answers. You can never have confidence in there were quite a lot of them, they used to what staff tell you, you have to ask a lot of chat with me. I live here now, I suppose, it’s them and go with the average answer. my extended family.

7. Zelditch, M. (2001). Theories of Legitimacy. In J. T. Jost & B. Major (Eds.), The social psychology of legitimacy: Emerging perspectives on ideology, justice, and intergroup relations. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 33.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 25 Interestingly in almost every example offered of a control over their lives from the prison system to an member of staff being helpful, kind or generous, they abstract idea, such as God, can help prisoners to were female. accept their existential realities and provide hope for future change or a promise of change. 8 In all three The power of trust prisons studied, religion was a very significant element in the culture of the establishment. For a small Trust was presented as a powerful element in minority of the men, their faith was a strong part of maintaining hope and resilience and in this regard, who they are and how they spend their time in workshop and education staff were seen in a positive custody. For James, his faith and religious observance light, particularly those that had managed to build a were central to his life: culture of trust and respect in their classes. Being treated as an equal and someone that could be trusted what keeps me going now then, the source of seemed to have a profound impact on participants. my hope? Faith, my religion that is exactly it. Arthur’s 36-year tariff has left him resigned to dying in prison, but he has found a role that gives him a sense of However, those expressing strong religious purpose: views were a small minority. Most participants had little interest in faith. For some, faith and communal I will be honest with you, worship activities were only most days it’s a struggle to relevant when times were even get up, let alone have For some, faith and particularly difficult. Many of hope. The good thing is the the participants saw religious jobs that I have here mean communal worship activity and corporate worship people depend on me. Linda as ‘safe space’, somewhere to in the cookery class depends activities were only mix with friends and feel safe: on me to help her. So, I relevant when times ‘for some of the blokes, the suppose it’s being needed, true believers, they get hope trusted and relied on that were particularly from going to services. But gets me up every day. difficult. mostly it is about safety and something to do for most of them’ (Ken). Having a sense of control and faith The impact of the environment Many participants were clear that they could make limited choices in prison, but there was very little Generally, little was said by participants about meaningful control over their daily life. Those areas their environment, facilities and services. But where where they could exert some control therefore became basic needs weren’t being met, there was a clear extremely important to them. One area that was sense of frustration that this wasn’t taken seriously by mentioned positively by many of the men was the the prison authorities: gymnasium. It meant much more to them than just exercise, fitness and building muscle mass. Many of the you see sometimes people from the men talked about the gymnasium as a place of mental establishment look and think it’s only a escape, personal control and a temporary sense of washing machine, or a cooker, but these freedom. David described the gym as a way of things are very serious here. As I was walking managing his emotions and energy: here someone said to me, don’t forget to speak to the Governor about the washing It’s a place of hope for me, its independence, machines (Adam). and a good stress reliever. It is better than any drug. I can go down the gym, I can set my And while paint schemes and décor were own targets and achieve them without some infrequently mentioned, it was an issue to some psychologist who I haven’t even met, participants: approving it. I’m doing 22 years, so I can tell you, I’ve seen Marranci suggests that the acceptance of their a lot of magnolia. It’s depressing after a while imprisonment as God’s will and the transferral of you know (Ben).

8 Marranci, G. (2009). Faith Ideology and Fear: Muslim Identities Within and Beyond Prisons. Continuum International Publishing Group, 69.

26 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 Unsurprisingly, prisoner movement from one part they take you down and all your hopes along of a high security prison to another, generally involves with you. moving through secure corridors. Most of the men felt there were very few opportunities for them to have quality time in the fresh air. Many of the participants Keeping busy suggested this was an important issue for them and the corridors of the prisons were criticised vehemently. Having a routine and keeping busy was frequently highlighted as an effective means of making time pass Safety and friendship quickly and reducing the risk of being drawn into activities that might be detrimental to self-progression. A view shared by many of those interviewed was Arthur’s perception is that his sentence is so long that that, as an individual they had limited control over he will die before he has any prospect of release. their safety. The general feeling was that one could Security for him centred on predictability and not partially mitigate the risks, but that other prisoners having to worry that he will be moved, or his routine could be unpredictable. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the interfered with: longer they had served in prison, and at their current prison, the less negative were hope for me is because I’ve their perceptions about their got my little routine here to personal safety. This appeared to ...the longer they have the peace of mind that be a benefit of simply knowing had served in I can wake up tomorrow people and having the time to knowing I’m still going to be doing that. manage relationships. Mike, prison, and at their who has served 12 years of a 27- current prison, the The men who had been able year tariff and has lived on his to carve out a sense of routine current wing for a number of less negative were and keep themselves busy years, explained: their perceptions seemed to have an ability to partially ‘switch off’ to the I’ve probably made it safe for about their difficulties of imprisonment, by myself now. I just adapted operating in what might be and made things better for personal safety. described as ‘auto-pilot’. But for myself. I know who’s who some participants the daily now, but it takes time. When you move jails, it routine, and prospect of living that regime for the next can be like starting again. 10 or 20 years was seemingly unbearable:

During group interviews, discussion regarding when I wake up in the morning, I’ll tell you friendships was warm, with descriptions of ‘mates’, what is going through my head. Another ‘homies’ and ‘brothers’. In one to one interviews boring day. Another day of exactly the same however, views were much less charitable. Participants as what you have just gone through yesterday were generally ‘lukewarm’ at the mention of and the day before that and the day before friendship in prison. Friendships, where they existed, that. Fuck, sometimes hope for me is just to consisted of a very small group of individuals and were do something different. It is mind numbing. limited in their nature. Friends we not described as a Boredom is a massive fear, a really big thing. source of hope and more often were something to be That is where depression starts I think. wary of. In many cases what participants described (Martin). were friendships of convenience, established strategically to mitigate threats and risks from others, Education was a popular activity, being described or just for companionship . Jake, is 3 years into a 31- as something interesting to do but also a route to year tariff, and explained that he is still ‘le arning the bettering oneself. Adam had been enthused by ropes’ about life on the wings: participation in a ‘Learning Together’ activity with a local university, which involved studying together with if you get close to people and they get into students from the community: stuff, you are going to have to take their side…, that always ends badly. It’s no good well I personally love education. When I did having hopes if you get close to people and Learning Together, I loved that, I think this is

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 27 great for prisoners. When I feel hope in my mitigate personal risk and maximise their sense of life in here, it really makes me want to get security and safety. involved in that sort of stuff much more. To this end, routines and activity matter. Staying busy provided a means for men to partially tune out their Ben however explained how funding issues unpleasant predicament. The gymnasium and education prevented him from realising his academic potential: centres in particular provided meaningful opportunities for a temporary form of mental escape. Engaging in listen, I wanted to do a sports science degree. physical activity gave the men a sense of control in their You have got to have 7 years or less left before life and the ability to independently set and achieve you can do an OU, otherwise you can’t get the personal targets. It also provided hope that they could funding. So instead of doing an OU degree I maintain their health and survive their long terms of am a wing cleaner. You tell me, where is the imprisonment. And academic education was a revelation hope in that? for many of the men, who had found confidence, hope and self-esteem in their achievements, which in some cases extended to degree level qualifications. It was Conclusions disappointing that in many cases, their further learning ambitions were stifled by funding hurdles. The importance of family to Category A prisoners The significant efforts made by prison staff should cannot be overstated. It was repeatedly offered as the also be acknowledged. It is unfortunate though that greatest source and focus of hope, and the factor that however good the intentions of staff, they were not made the biggest difference for men in managing to apparently resulting in a commensurate positive impact cope with prison sentences of a duration which have on the lives of prisoners. The workings of the prison been described as almost unsurvivable. It is interesting system was a factor that in most cases served to erode that when the men talked of what they hope for, in most hope. As such, participants expressed low levels of cases they first talked about being reunited with their perceived legitimacy in the rules of the institutions. families, rather than being free. But family relationships Perceived indifference, inconsistency, pettiness, lack of can also be a source of loss, pain, guilt and anguish. knowledge, unreasonable expectations and a lack of Separation from family was without doubt, for most of ‘common sense’ from staff, created anxiety, uncertainty the men interviewed the greatest difficulty of their and a loss of hope. imprisonment. Those difficulties were often increased by a requirement for security checks to be carried out on visitors; a process which they had little control over and In summary could be protracted. Being a Category A prisoner brings additional Notwithstanding several frustrations, hope does difficulties and frustrations. There was a clear perception exist in dispersal prisons. Those that expressed feelings of that the Category A process is an unfair, inconsistent, hope suggested that it helped them maintain resilience secretive and unjust system and that once a prisoner and be motivated to engage in the regime and progress became Category A they were likely to remain so for through the system. A significant range of factors exist many years. In fact these perceptions were not without that can clearly influence levels of hope amongst merit. The Category A Team at HMPPS Headquarters Category A prisoners and can, at least partially, be report that in 2016, the status of 805 Category A enabled and changed, (such as access to family and prisoners was reviewed and only 58 were downgraded to education). But whilst it has been established that hope Category B. From January to September 2017, just 38 can help motivate men to try and progress, this needs to men were downgraded from 573 reviews. be supported by a personal belief that progress and Irrespective of the merits and necessity of the change can be made, and that they will be recognised Category A system, it is not perceived as legitimate, fair, respected and rewarded by those in authority. To consistent or transparent, by Category A prisoners. conclude then, particularly as our prisons are currently Inevitably then, such perceptions create anxiety and experiencing significant challenges, it is important to diminish hope. remember that: Concerns regarding feelings of safety were raised, but few of the participants talked of fear as a ‘Devoid of hope, imprisonment is a pointless predominant feature of their experience. Perhaps this pain ’ 9 and thus, perhaps one of the most reflects the apparent skill the men have developed in crucial crises prisons ought to avoid at all costs managing their routines and associations strategically, to is a crisis of hope.

9. O’Donnell, I. (2016). The aims of imprisonment. In: Jewkes, Y. Bennett, J. & Crewe, B. eds. (2016). Handbook on Prisons (2nd ed). Routledge, 46.

28 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 Intersectionality and the prison crisis: What is it as a concept and why does it matter today in understanding current problems in prison?

Dr Victoria Lavis is Director of The Appreciative Partnership

Introduction The research findings revealed an important relationship between the singularising way diversity, This paper addresses the fundamental questions personhood and identity are currently conceptualised of the special issue through the lens of prisoner and responded to and prisoners experience of the diversity, personhood and identity: ‘What does humanity of custody and its implications for the current response to diversity, personhood and rehabilitation and desistance. This paper offers the identity reveal about whether prisons are in concept of Intersectionality as an alternative to the crisis? ’; ‘What insights can be gained by singularising view. It considers how the development of positioning prisoners, prison and partnership an intersectional approach could inform practices which agency staff as experts — people whose lived can respond to the whole person and thereby mitigate experience of the response to diversity, against a crisis of personhood and identity in prisons 3 personhood and identity can inform creative interventions and improvements? ; How can ’ ‘ The effect of prison on personhood inclusive, generative and solution focussed and identity in prisons. approaches to knowledge creation, change and development help us gain a deeper insight into Ethnographic studies have characterised the prison prison life and create the ideas, appetite and as a micro society—reflecting many of the social energy to address the crisis? ’ structures of wider society and constituted by an The observations offered in relation to these increasingly diverse prisoner population. 4 They are questions are informed by a research project whereby however, very different from free society in terms of the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) methodology creatively social roles, power structures, freedom and agency they disrupted the conventional expectations of prisoners, offer for maintaining personhood and fully expressing prison staff and researchers. 1,2 Consistent with the identity. 5 Personhood is concerned with the underlying principles of AI, prisoners, researchers and prison and partnership agency staff drew on their fundamental position of being a human being with 6 experience to co-create the research methodology and value, intelligence, a past, present and a future and is 7 8 co-design some methods of data collection. This closely associated with concepts like self and identity. inclusive approach promoted a deeper engagement A wide field of research studies have explored inherent with and insight into the challenges and possibilities for and interpersonal personhood, the implications of managing and responding to difference, promoting incapacity and embodiment for personhood and the equality and the implications of diversity, personhood impact of definitions and practices of exclusion which and identity for creating cohesive penal communities. render someone a ‘non-person ’.9 Consideration of

1. Lavis, V.J., Cowburn, M. and Elliott, C. (2017) ‘Appreciative Inquiry for Research:Exploring the response to diversity and equality in English prisons’, in J.Brooks and N.King (eds), Applied Qualitative Research in Psychology, London: Palgrave. 2. Funded through the Economic and Social Research Council with acknowledgements to Dr Emily Turner, Rebecca Baylis, Dr Matt Merefield and Prof. Charles Elliott. 3. Walby, S. (2007), ‘Complexity Theory, Systems Theory and Multiple Intersecting Social Inequalities’. Philosophy of the Social Science, 37/4: 449-470. 4. Phillips, C. (2012) ‘The Multicultural Prison: Ethnicity, Masculinity and Social Relations among Prisoners. Oxford, Oxford University Press 5. Crewe, B. (2009), The Prisoner Society: Power, Adaption, and Social Life in an English Prison. Oxford University Press: Oxford. 6. Lawrence, RM (2007), ‘Dementia. A personal legacy beyond words’, Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 19/6: 553-562. 7. Sabat, S. R. (2001) The Experience of Alzheimer's Disease: Life Through a Tangled Veil. Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell 8. Kitwood, T. (1997) Dementia reconsidered: the person comes first. Buckingham: Open University Press. 9. Baldwin, C., & Capstick, A. (2007) Tom Kitwood on dementia: a reader and critical commentary. Buckingham. Open University Press.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 29 personhood in prisons is important because on entry to has augmented the challenge for prisons and their staff prison many of the characteristics of personhood; sex, to understand and respond respectfully and decently to race, ethnicity, class, age, gender, sexual orientation, the diversity of personhood and identity imported into disability, relationship status and faith, are reformulated prisons. The challenge has been amplified by the wider as predominantly singular functional categories through legal requirement imposed by the Equality Act 18 which which the person is classified and recorded. The social identified and prioritised nine characteristics of roles and understandings formulated and maintained in personhood and imposed a Public Sector Equality Duty. the external social world become This duty mandates organisations secondary to the role and to manage and respond to behaviours expected of a prisoner Consideration of difference, encourage good and the opportunities to be one’s relations between different self in the way possible in the free personhood in people, eliminate discrimination world is curtailed and and ensure equality of 10 constrained. Moreover, the social prisons is important opportunity. The National world of the prison re- shapes Offender Management Service 11 because on entry to imported identities and infuses (NOMS) response to the Act them with alternate shared social prison many of the combined the previously meanings. 12 This dilution of separate prison service orders personhood, self and identity is in characteristics of and instructions for protected tension with research which is personhood, sex, characteristics like race, simultaneously demonstrating the disability and faith to create a importance of maintaining and race, ethnicity, class, Single Equalities Policy enacting identity in prison. For age, gender, sexual (PSO32/2011). The recording of example, in negotiating and all protected characteristics at surviving prison, 13 enabling and orientation, disability, reception/induction aimed to supporting rehabilitation 14 and for ensure protected characteristics desistance during custody and on relationship status were identified on entry. The release. 15 The tension is reflected and faith, are reporting and investigation in the consistency of requests to be treated like a human being reformulated mechanisms for racial found in HMIP and MQPL as…singular…categ discrimination (RIRF) were reports. It is also evident in widened to cover all protected findings that the enactment of ories through which characteristics (DIRF) and the identity in prison life is dynamic, establishment of prisoner involving compromise, conflict a person is classified diversity representatives to raise and negotiation. 16 or recorded. prisoner awareness of and access to support became widespread. Increasing prisoner diversity These developments advanced and the framework for response progress in recognising the importance of responding to personhood. Prison and part nership agency staff The last decade has seen a trend towards became more sensitised to characteristics of increasing diversity within the prison population. 17 This personhood that were protected in policy and in law;

10. Phillips, C. (2012) ‘The Multicultural Prison: Ethnicity, Masculinity and Social Relations among Prisoners. Oxford, Oxford University Press 11. Gergen, K. (2010) The Self as Social Construction. Psychological Studies. 56/1:108–116. Giddens, A. (1991), Modernity and self-identity: Self and Society in the late modern age. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press 12. Stets, J.E. and Burke, P.J. (2000), ‘Identity Theory and Social Identity Theory’. Social Psychology Quarterly. 63/3: 224-237. 13. Ross, J.I. and Richards, S.C. (2002) Behind Bars: Surviving Prison. Indianapolis, USA: Alpha Books. Crawley, E. and Sparks, R. (2005) ‘Older Men in Prison: Surviving, Coping and Identity’, in A. Liebling, and S. Maruna (eds.) The Effects of Imprisonment, Abingdon: Willan Publishing, pp. 343 – 365. 14. Ward, T. and Brown, M. (2004), ‘The Good Lives Model and Conceptual Issues in Offender Rehabilitation’. Psychology, Crime and Law, 10/3: 243-257. Ward, T. and Marshall, B. (2007), ‘Narrative Identity and Offender Rehabilitation’. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 51/3: 279-297. 15. Paternoster, R. and Bushway, S. (2009), ‘Desistance and the “feared self”: Toward an Identity Theory of Criminal Desistance’. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 99/4: 1103- 1156. King, S. (2012) ‘Transformative agency and desistance from crime’. Criminology and Criminal Justice , 13/3: 317-335. 16. Bosworth, M. and Carrabine, E. (2001), ‘Reassessing Resistance: Race, Gender and Sexuality in Prison’. Punishment and Society, 3/4: 501-515. 17. Ministry of Justice (2018) Offender management statistics. London: Ministry of Justice. 18. Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equality-act-2010-guidance#public- sector-equality-duty. Accessed: 19.11.2018.

30 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 adjustments to the prison regime and rules to respond reasonable to make which can lead to a reticence to to needs of prisoners with protected characteristics acknowledge and respond to diversity. Staff anxiety became normalised; and prisoners perceiving unfair about the consequences of getting the response to treatment arising from a protected characteristic were influential protected characteristics wrong, unwittingly able to request a detailed investigati on. reinforces the power dynamic. These changes in how diversity and protected The singularising approach and the creation of a characteristics of personhood play out in daily practice hierarchy of protected characteristics are exacerbated and amplified by the restructuring of the wider prison landscape in the last six years. Now These developments, whilst a step forward, had well documented these include: changes to the terms the unintended consequences of creating a and conditions of work for operational staff, attrition of singularising approach to diversity and identity in prison experienced operational staff, the application of the policy and practice. A singularising approach isolates a benchmark and associated reductions in funding and single characteristic of personhood enabling it to staffing, high staff sickness and attrition and reduction become a focal point for intervention or adjustment in the breadth and depth of entry level training for without considering the impact on the wider identity. prison officers. Together with the rise in the availability For example, focussing on faith and use of novel psychoactive without considering the substances these conditions are relationship between culture and The prisons creating an unprecedented faith. An unfortunate outcome of challenge to the delivery of core responses that singularise is that participating in the custodial services. Add to this people can experience being research have made context the re-designation of forced to choose between or equalities work as ‘flexible ’ (able prioritise one aspect of their strides towards to be dropped in response to personhood in order to resist developing operational pressures) and being oppression or discrimination or to able to respond effectively to gain access to fair treatment. This mechanisms to prisoner diversity, personhood is partly because prisons, like and identity seems ephemeral. many organisations are set up to enable recognition address mainstream needs. Their of and provide How does this contribute to regimes and responses work to the characterisation of accommodate the status quo. support for delivery. prisons in crisis? Thus, non-mainstream needs which might lead to The impact of the disadvantage are met primarily through adjustments to singularising approach to personhood and its the norm. A good example is the provision for Islamic consequences for feeling treated like a person and fully prisoners to take time out of participation in the daily expressing identity are certainly a tension bubbling regime to pray. under the surface of the current context. In a world of The research revealed that diversity related stretched resources, it is perhaps not surprising to find adjustments disrupt the equilibrium of prisoner the focus of staff in prisons under pressure has relationships and power dynamics because the norm is gravitated towards what they can deliver in terms of delivered to all prisoners, whilst the adjustments are core custodial services. Staff report that there is little delivered only to those whose need is known and time or energy to consider how that gets delivered or accepted as valid. This distinction creates tensions and what that means in terms of prisoner personhood and perceptions of unfairness which are typified by the identity expression. The prisons participating in the often-expressed view that non-mainstream prisoners research have made strides towards developing ‘…get what we get and then more ’. Prisoners who are mechanisms to enable recognition of and provide looking to gain an advantage in an environment of support for diversity. However, many of these support scarce resources begin to look for ways to align mechanisms still focus resource and attention on single themselves with groups perceived as getting more or aspects of personhood. The characterisation of crisis able to get more. The resulting shift in power dynamics arises from the effects of this longstanding singularising generates a perceived hierarchy between protected response to personhood and identity at this very characteristic groups. Prison and partnership agency particular point in time when prisons are experiencing a staff, acknowledging their often-limited cultural wide variety of financial, political and staffing pressures. awareness, experience and competence, report The singularising approach appears to be undermining confusion about what adjustments are fair and good relationships between diverse prisoner groups

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 31 and impairing relationships between staff and prisoners being black and being female. Crenshaw illustrated the both of which are important for maintaining safety and impact of intersectionality through the legal case of a good order. Ultimately, it continues to inhibit black woman claiming discrimination after being achievement of rehabilitative goals which rely on denied employment. The company denying her personhood and identity as a resource. Taking an employment argued they were not discriminatory intersectional approach may be one route to off-setting because they employed both black people and women. the tensions and potential crisis of personhood and However, the black people they employed worked in identity. the factory and were all male and the white people were all women working in administration. The site of Intersectionality: — recognising and responding the discrimination lay in the intersection between being to the whole person black and being a woman, which disqualified her from both roles. Despite this, the court dismissed the claim The AI research methodology generated rich for discrimination on the grounds that only one stories reflecting the experience of diverse minority personal characteristic could be cited as grounds for the prisoners and prison and partnership agency staff. discrimination — either being black or being a woman. These stories reveal a shared desire for a response that There were no grounds to claim discrimination arising recognises and responds to the from the intersection between ‘whole person ’ rather than single two personal characteristics. The characteristics of personhood. singularising approach to Theories of intersectionality offer Intersectionality personhood in English prisons insight into why a whole person can also be used as means that prisoners seeking an response is needed and how an investigation of perceived intersectional approach in prisons an analytic discrimination through the use of can support the development of framework for the DIRF are placed in the same policy and practices that are more situation — they must specify reflective of the whole person, uncovering, one singular protected affirm rather than constrain characteristic that is the root or identity and agency and thereby critiquing and site of the discrimination. assist the prison in its wider remit challenging Since Crenshaw’s early to support offenders to lead non- conceptualisation of offending lives during custody oppression and intersectionality the theory has and release. In short, offering the been extended and developed to potential to mitigate the discrimination. consider the implications of personhood/identity crisis. multiple intersecting personal Intersectionality is a theory characteristics, the implications of explaining how the socially constructed categories of social structures, ways of talking and associated personhood (race, ethnicity, gender, faith etc.) overlap practices that position and oppress people. It has also and intersect within each individual creating their been applied to identifying the ways in which these are personhood and the implications this has for their negotiated and resisted in fields as diverse as politics, experience of oppression, discrimination and education and healthcare. Whilst there has been some disadvantage. Intersectionality can also be used as an application of intersectionality as a way of analytic framework for uncovering, critiquing and understanding how people experience prison life this challenging oppression and discrimination. 19 The term work has been in countries outside the UK 21 and only was coined by Crenshaw 20 (1991) to illustrate how with female prisoner populations. 22 Henne and discrimination can arise from the intersection of two Troshynski 23 and Potter 24 have both called for socially constructed characteristics of personhood; criminologists to take an intersectional approach to

19. Walby, S., Armstrong, J. and Strid, S. (2012), ‘Intersectionality: Multiple Inequalities in Social Theory’. Sociology, 46: 1-17. 20. Crenshaw, K. (1991), ‘Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity, Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color’. Stanford Law Review, 43/6: 1241-1299. 21. Gray, P. (2006) ‘Women’s experiences of Incarceration in Hong Kong: Doing time, Doing choice, Doing class-gender-culture’. International Journal of the Sociology of Law. 34: 89-104. 22. Cherukuri, S., Britton, D.M. and Subramaniam, M. (2009) ‘Between Life and Death: Women in an Indian State Prison’. Feminist Criminology. 4/3: 252-274. 23. Henne, K. and Troshynski, E. (2013), ‘Mapping the Margins of Intersectionality: Criminological Possibilities in a Transnational World’. Theoretical Criminology , 0/0: 1-19. 24. Potter, H. (2013), ‘Intersectional Criminology: Interrogating Identity and Power in Criminological Research and Theory’. Critical Criminology, 21: 305-318.

32 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 exploring the identity of offenders, prisoners and possibilities for responding differently. This approach victims to take into account the impact of power takes the focus away from judging and blaming staff dynamics within the criminal justice system and the and situates it on exploring how the desired outcomes social construction of identity. can be achieved. In this way the research process Relevant to the present discussions about the creates both an appetite for and an energy to generate relationship between diversity, personhood and prisons change in sites of combined challenge/opportunity. 27 in crisis, theories of intersectionality also offer insight Two sites of challenge/opportunity have relevance into identity. An intersectional reading of personhood for mitigating the crisis of personhood and identity sees identity as multiplicative 25 — that is — constituted under discussion. Firstly, the challenge/opportunity of by many intersecting and interwoven aspects of recording, analysing and reporting the intersectionality personhood; for example, race, ethnicity, sexuality, of the national and individual prisoner populations and 26 gender and class. In simple terms, who we are, our thereby promoting awareness and engagement with ways of being and behaving in the world derive from the intersectionality of personhood and identity. interwoven and indivisible aspects of personhood and it Secondly, the challenge/opportunity of increasing the does not make sense to respond to them singularly. This confidence and competence of prison and partnership marks an important departure from the singularising agency staff to recognise and respond effectively to the approach currently informing the response to diversity whole person. Achieving this and personhood in prisons. outcome will involve overcoming anxieties about accusations of Research led insight The appreciative bias and inequality which impair responsiveness and increased clarity The research suggests that inquiry approach about what constitutes an effective an intersectional reading of developed for the and appropriate adjustment to identity could have far reaching support characteristics of value for prisons assisting them research marked a personhood which are protected in with; maintaining good order law and policy. and discipline, fostering good departure from relations between different more traditional Challenge/Opportunity: people, promoting prisoners establishing and utilising resilience to survive prison, problem-based data about the prevalence of developing effective staff and methodologies. intersectionality in prison prisoner relationship through populations respectful basic daily interactions and through the keyworker system promoting the maintenance of aspects of Consistent with the singularising conceptualisation personhood which can form the basis for developing a of diversity and personhood already discussed, prison non-offending identity. The key component of these population figures are produced for only four of the outcomes lies in being seen as a whole person as nine protected characteristics of personhood; sex, age, 28 opposed to a collection of characteristics some of which ethnicity and religion. Whilst quarterly statistics are are more valued in law and prison policy than others. produced to show the make-up of the national The appreciative inquiry approach developed for population in terms of gender, offence and sentence the research marked a departure from more traditional type, ethnicity and faith, statistics which reveal problem-based methodologies. Using questions which protected characteristic groups are only produced prompted prisoners and staff to reflect on past annually in arrears. This presents several challenges; i) it successes in responding to diversity of personhood and makes the monitoring of protected characteristics and identity the approach revealed not only challenges but the localised needs they create difficult for the service as opportunities, resources and possibilities for a whole and for individual prisons and ii) the way the improvement. The approach enabled staff to explore data is presented makes it difficult to establish the what underlies the difficulties they face and explore the extent of intersectionality and more importantly which

25. Chigwada-Bailey, R. (2003) Black Women’s Experience of Criminal Justice: Race, Gender and Class, a Discourse on Disadvantage. Waterside: Winchester, England. 26. Staunæs, D. (2003): Where have all the subjects gone? Bringing together the concepts of intersectionality and subjectification. NORA—Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, 11/2: 101-110. 27. Elliott, C. (1999), Locating the Energy for Change: An Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry. Winnipeg, Manitoba: International Institute for Sustainable Development. 28. Other protected characteristics like sexuality and disability are not reported because this information is difficult for prisons to access unless disclosed voluntarily.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 33 characteristics of personhood are intersecting in any provided information about 7 of the 9 protected given population. Table 1 shows the prisoner characteristics. 31 Analysis of the overlap between population in June 2018 29 and the figures published for protected characteristics, shown in figure 1, shows the the four protected characteristics in the male estate. 30 extent of intersectionality between 6 of the 7 protected characteristics recorded in each research site. Prison Population 82,773 Gender (Male) 78,790 95 per cent Figure 1. Intersectionality of protected characteristics across the three research sites Protected groups Even a cursory examination of intersectionality like Age (Under 25 or 50+) 33,137 40 per cent this one provokes interesting questions and new ways of thinking. For example, it provokes questions about Ethnicity (excl. White)* 22,001 27 per cent which are the most common or frequently occurring Religion** 57,369 69 per cent intersections of protected characteristics and how these In any of the four Protected Groups * 136 per cent relate to the informal awareness of staff about their population. When asked informally which intersections * White ethnicity is not a protected characteristic they thought would occur most commonly, the ** of which 48 per cent are Christian. tendency in responses from prison and partnership Table 1. Protected Characteristics in the agency staff was to highlight faith and ethnicity. national prisoner population However, the most commonly occurring combination Despite only being able to consider the impact of of protected characteristics across all three sites were four protected characteristics a rough appreciation of the age and disability (although this varied across the extent of intersectionality in the population can be seen. individual prison sites). The figures indicate a 36 per cent overlap in protected An intersectional analysis brings other interesting characteristics, even without considering the impact of questions into view, for example-what does an the other five unrecorded protected characteristics. intersectional analysis reveal about the norm and about Gaining a more sophisticated view of the extent of who the statistical minority and majority groups are? intersectionality in the national prisoner population would The basic analysis here indicates that there is likely to be greatly assist prison governors to exercise the local a very small population (a statistical minority in every autonomy envisaged in PSI32/2011 to respond to the prison) of white, middle aged, heterosexual, non- needs of their localised populations. However, achieving religious, able bodied prisoners who do not identify this would require the collection, analysis and reporting of with any protected characteristic and who do not data on a single case by case basis. receive any adjustment to the prison regime or A more detailed assessment of intersectionality can practices. This small minority are an important feature be achieved by using the data from the research study. in considering the experience of staff when responding Whilst not a census, prisoners self-selecting to to diversity and how this relates to the anxieties they participate in the survey component of the research report about accusations of bias and inequality.

Intersectionality of Protected Characteristics by Research Site The challenge/opportunity of

50 establishing intersectional 43 39 41 practices of responding to the 40 32

e whole person.

l 30 p 30 26 m a S

17 f 20 16 The focus of AI on asking o 13

12 11 % questions which provoke a reflection 10 7 6 2 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 on past successes as a means of 0 uncovering improvements and No PCs 1 PC 2 PC 3 PC 4 PC 5 PC 6 PC No of Protected Characteristics solutions enabled staff to appreciatively share their knowledge Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 and experiences of responding to diversity of personhood and identity. *based on 682 surveys from a population of 2,867 (23.8 per cent return rate) The approach uncovered commonly

29. Ministry of Justice (2018) Annual Prison Population Statistics June. 30. The male estate is used as an example because the national figures are compared with the research figures and the research was only conducted in the male estate. 31. Biological sex and Pregnancy and maternity were not included as the research took place only in the male estate.

34 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 held vulnerabilities and anxieties, practical challenges and experiences of prison staff reveal a strong desire to ideas and opportunities for improvement. adopt an intersectional approach—to respond to the The stories of staff revealed widely shared concerns needs of the person standing in front of them, rather about the extent of their cultural awareness and its impact than a singularising approach—attempting to identify on their cultural competence which contributed to whether the person’s needs arise from a anxieties about accusations of positive bias (the characteristic that warrants protection in policy and appearance of favouritism through adjustments for law. Assisting them to achieve this will require further diversity) as well as fears about accusations of consideration of how staff and managers can discrimination (failure to provide adjustments for overcome fears about accusations of bias in equity diversity). Stories also illustrated how discrimination, poor enabling them to focus on equality of outcome, responsiveness and neglectfulness can ari se from kind of rather than measurement of input. diversity blindness contributing to misattribution and misrecognition. For example, it was not uncommon to Concluding thoughts hear stories about Hindu or Sikh prisoners being unlocked on Friday lunchtimes to attend Jummah The article has explored and critiqued the notion of prayers because staff had conflated being of Asian a crisis of personhood and identity in prisons, exploring ethnicity with being of Muslim faith. Neither was it the implications for prisoners, prison and partnership unusual to encounter stories which illustrated that agency staff and the wider aims and purposes of prison difference was overlooked because staff mis- to rehabilitate. Critiquing the longstanding singularising understood equality as the need to treat everyone the approach to conceptualising and responding to same, as this quote from a prison officer illustrates:—‘I personhood, it has offered intersectionality as one try not to see that he is Black or Asian, it shouldn’t possible means of generating an approach to custody make a difference, I should treat them all the same.’ and rehabilitation which responds to the whole person. Such understandings often co-existed with a strong The insights offered have been drawn from a uniquely desire to be fair to all prisoners and reflected the inclusive research project which re-envisaged the roles tension created by the singularising approach to prisoners and prison staff usually play in research. diversity of personhood. Less commonly, stories Inspired by and adopting the principles of appreciative revealed a more intersectional approach that attempts inquiry the research methodology repositioned these to see and respond to the whole person, as this quote stakeholders’ experience as expert insight. Adopting also from a prison officer demonstrates:— ‘You can’t the AI principles of drawing forward past strengths to treat them all the same—they are different—you have generate future solutions, the research has enabled to look at what each person needs ’. staff to move beyond participation in research which The perception that treating everyone the same subsequently points the finger and finds them lacking. would promote fairness also underlay confusion and Rather they are invited into a dialogue where solutions concern amongst staff about what adjustments were and suggestions arising from their experience have fair to make and how the effectiveness of adjustments should be defined and measured. The singularising immediate day to day value. approach was again dominant here. For example, when Moving forwards, the AI methodology has wider diversity and personhood are looked at through a applicability to generate alternate perspectives, insights singular lens it is not surprising to find that prisoners and engagement with other issues impacting prisons in attending chapel are all unlocked at the same time — this uniquely challenging time. As for intersectionality, giving prisoners whose mobility is affected by an whilst not a panacea or a magic wand, a concerted impairment or by age the same amount of time to get exploration of the benefits of adopting an intersectional off the wing and across the yard to chapel as those who approach is recommended on the grounds that it offers are fit and able bodied. In contrast, when looked at the potential to develop policies and practices which through an intersectional lens, unlock for chapel might are more reflective of the person and which affirm be staggered, enabling less mobile prisoners to have a rather than constrain identity and agency. This whole more equitable chance of getting to chapel on time. person approach would enable prisoners to maintain The difference here is that the singular approach and express more fully aspects of their personhood focuses attention on adjustment in terms of the input which can form the building clocks of a non-offending of the prison. In contrast, the intersectional approach self. Thus, recognising and valuing the intersectional focuses attention on the outcome of the adjustment for nature of personhood would appear to be a vital the whole person taking account of the intersection of component of the creation of a healthy, humane, safe mobility, age and faith needs. In summary, the and decent prison.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 35 Crises of selfhood and expressions of punishment A conversation with psychotherapist Susie Orbach Susie Orbach is a distinguished psychotherapist who has published widely. She is interviewed by Dr Anastasia Chamberlen, Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick and Charlotte Weinberg, Director of Safe Ground

As part of this special issue on the prison’s crises we keep relying on it, and what our attitudes various and often re-emerging crises, we sought towards punishment might be able to say about us as a to incorporate the perspective of an outside society and individuals. observer; someone who can speak about the In prisons research and in the sociology of role of punishment beyond prison walls and punishment we often speak about the ‘emotions ’ of who has thought about punishment rather punishment and prison’s symbolic role in society. We differently to how practitioners, researchers and do so to explain punishment as a social phenomenon campaigners approach it in their day-to-day linked to our values, insecurities and broader relations work in the prison context. with one another. In the following extracts, we consider More specifically, as part of our conversations on the psychic dimension of such emotions and drives in punitivity and public attitudes to punishment we order to understand what it is that makes punishment thought it was important to unpack current problems not only so popular, but also desirable even when and so called ‘crises ’ in prisons through individual, found within conditions of crisis. Together with Orbach, psychic experiences that drive punitivity today. To do so, we think about the origins and causes of our reliance we approached one of the UK’s leading on punishment, discuss long-standing problems inside psychotherapists, Susie Orbach. Though not usually a our justice process—including its targeting of the most commentator on punishment, Orbach is a prolific disadvantaged, and consider ways around and beyond psychoanalyst, writer and social critic who has written our punitive attitudes. We have summarised our on women’s experiences and the politics of eating and discussion within the following themes: punishment’s the body, the dynamics of relationships and expression of racism, class divides and authoritarian dependency in intimate relations, including those of practices; punishment’s expression of contemporary mother and child, and more recently has written on the fragility and vulnerability; the fantasy and anxiety experiences and challenges of being a therapist. She driving punishment and the satisfaction of sadism; and has also commented on various social and political its expression of an emotional illiteracy when it comes issues and has not shied away from making often to establishing social and personal boundaries. We also controversial but thought-provoking interventions on consider punishment’s position within the psychic various contemporary debates. Susie Orbach kindly structure and the transformative role of conversation accepted our interview invitation and, on a May and dialogue in contemporary life. afternoon, hosted us at her house in London. A psychotherapeutic perspective on punishment On the functions of punishment: Racism, class can arguably tell us about punishment not only as divides, and expressions of authority institutional practice, but also as something experienced and expressed (and often repressed) within We started our conversation with Susie Orbach by all of us. After all, as sociologist Emile Durkheim discussing punishment and prisons’ role in society. established long ago, it might be that the primary Orbach explained that for her the motivation for rises in subjects of punishment aren’t offenders (alone), but mass incarceration in the Anglo-American world was rather the rest of the ‘law-abiding ’ community. In this evidently greater than simply the pragmatic need to interview, we wanted to unpack why punishment keeps respond to crime. Similarly, she clarified this wasn’t finding itself within different crises, why despite these simply an instrumental pursuit in search for economic

This interview was conducted in May 2018. The editors of this special issue would like to thank Susie Orbach for agreeing to take part in this conversation.

36 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 profit. As she explained, ‘I don’t think the motive is recalled the work of Beatrix Campbell in Goliath and money; I think the motive is racism. But I think money the importance of gender and class in considering how is a nice by-product.’ She referred to Michelle authority and status are ascribed in our contemporary Alexander’s The New Jim Crow and that of Kathy contexts, highlighting how all of these intersect in Boudin’s work which looks at how prisons create driving punitivity and mass incarceration. employment and profit. Orbach raised the issue of racism and structural inequality as a fundamental The psychic structure of our vulnerable selves: component of punishment’s application—not only with The basis of our reliance on punishment? regards to offenders, but also with regards to penal institutions and logics often targeting people seeking As we wished to unpack further the drivers asylum or refuge from conflict and political violence. motivating our specific reliance on punishment as a Orbach’s perspective on the role of punishment in technology and practice, we asked Orbach to give us a society also included the idea of nationalism and the technical explanation of how the urge to punish might notion of ‘our country ’ as being a place and an idea in emerge. She explained it as an act of expulsion and need of protection, an entity to defend and keep safe distancing from individually experienced pain, from so called ‘others ’ from whom we may perceive to performed primarily through the infliction of pain on be under threat. others: This thinking is useful as a SO: You’re trying to expel critique of current perspectives ...the exercise of what’s been done to you, and as on prison and penal reform as it punishment is often you’re doing so, you are living perhaps reminds us that we through it, at a distance, so ought to study prisons within a not an act of you’re enacting something wider and broader network of similar onto someone else. You’re socio-political processes. Indeed, superiority by a trying to get on top of the hurt when discussing whether confident authority, that you experienced; that would punishment today is expanding be a psycho-analytic and widening as a practice, but in psycho- understanding of punishment. Orbach directed us to the work The analytic approach then, of Anthony Loewenstein on analytic terms at she went on to explain, enables Disaster Capitalism. In this work, least, it is often an us to see the use of punishment she explained that ‘Loewenstein and, to some extent, authority, as describes how the UK act of fragility a way of ‘distancing oneself from participates in the promulgation or vulnerability. one’s own punishment ’ by of outsourcing as a key element enacting it and seeing it instead of economic growth through on someone else. But, as Orbach ‘disasters ’ such as homelessness (particularly for refugee clarified, this is not just a process of mere distancing; it and asylum-seeking people), criminal justice and is also a mechanism for ‘surviving ’ and coping with the ‘defence ’ needs. Lowenstein points out the emergence exercise of punishment. In the simplest terms, she of profit from migration, climate and environmental explained, ‘one’s use of punishment is a defence disasters (like hurricanes, volcanoes and wars) whilst against their own hurt, hence the adage about promoting a simultaneous expansion violence, ‘hurt people, hurt people ’.’ This suggested of militarisation.’ that the exercise of punishment is often not an act of The reference to a clear ‘we ’ from the start of this superiority by a confident authority, but in psycho- conversation was telling. Orbach suggested that today analytic terms at least, it is often an act of fragility or we invest in creating a range of punishing vulnerability. It also clarified a basic but often environments (e.g. through war and military overlooked feature of punishment: that somewhat interventions) and then generate profits (often for large inevitably punishment is an act of pain infliction and corporations) derived from so-called ‘clean ups ’, or thus of violence too. punitive and security-based responses that we offer as CW: So is the notion of punishment an inherent, responses to the various ‘disasters ’ we encounter and innate human need? Why do you think politically, produce. She argued that engaging in such processes analytically, personally, we punish ourselves and each maintains a vicious circle in which punitive and captive other so much? institutions like the prison or detention centres appear SO: Because we find things really difficult. Here’s always necessary and unavoidable and are rarely how I understand it psychologically: something questioned. Her sociological reflections on punishment happens to you that’s incomprehensible, you are extended also onto the role of class and gender. Orbach dependent on whoever, whatever the environment is.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 37 Let’s call it your Mum, for the sake of argument, since But we probed Orbach a bit more about the links that’s still what most people are first exposed to. You’re between self-vulnerability and the enactment of continually exposed to incomprehensible behaviours punishment upon others. Using the narratives of but you cannot afford to hate that person because you prisoners such as those in ‘The Work ’, we wanted to need them so desperately, you can’t cross the street, better understand why our vulnerability, expressed you can’t feed yourself, you can’t do anything. You are through punishment, tends to target those most utterly dependent emotionally and physically. That marginalised and vulnerable in society. inability to countenance rejection of the person on CW: We brutalise people and then we punish whom you’re so dependent can lead you to make them for having been brutalised. We’re being brutal in yourself the author of your misfortune. In this way, you response to a brutal situation. become an agent of your own distress. Eventually and SO: I think that’s true. normally you learn how to split yourself and how to be CW: It sounds very simplistic. self-critical and simultaneously how to give powers to SO: Yes but it isn’t simplistic, it’s really complex. others, and so you’ve developed a mechanism inside of CW: And that is endemic throughout our you for distilling that distress. institutions. Because it’s in our organisms. CW : If we’re split between love and hate, why is SO: Unfortunately. But, it’s the punitive split bit of me (and not the only thing in our therefore of us) so much stronger organisms. and more pervasive? The link between SO: Because it’s indigestible. violence and AC: But then we know some I think hurt, pain and confusion people are less punitive than are indigestible, unless you have punishment others. a mechanism for understanding appeared to be SO: Of course, but we’re it. Which could be a collective currently in a culture in which response. For instance, you could about shared brutality, or punitiveness, sits say, fascism, could give someone experiences of alongside being lovely and an answer to such turmoil, or so empathic. We’ve got two could communism. Or, proper ‘unmetabolised ’ dominant narratives if you like. conversations could also give you vulnerability an answer. I think it must be the The satisfaction of sadism in indigestibility of pain that sticks and pain. punishment around and turns into punishment. And that’s why I Our discussion on the links think therapy is very powerful. Because if somebody between brutality and punishment took us onto a gets that their anger is a displacement from conversation around punishment’s alleged purposes. We vulnerability, they don’t have to be angry all the time, also reflected on what the emotions on which they can risk feeling vulnerable. It might take them a punishment relied were, and questioned whether long time to get there, but they can risk that fee ling punitivity itself might be an emotional practice. and therefore the feeling is metabolised and goes AC: So is there something satisfying about through them. They don’t need to seek to enact it, or punishing then? export it on to everybody else. The link between violence and punishment SO: I think so, I mean sadism can be satisfying. It’s appeared to be about shared experiences of also inside of you, so you can tell, you can catch ‘unmetabolised ’ vulnerability and pain. At this point, yourself doing it. I think we’re more insecure, we’re the conversation took us to HMP Grendon and the fact more fearful today so punishment can be a kind of a that it is one of few therapeutic prisons in the UK. solution. We’re a very angry society now, because the Orbach recalled recently watching the documentary whole social structure has changed so rapidly from the film ‘The Work ’ based at Folsom state prison in post war settlement, which was a progressive California where members of the public and prisoners settlement. I mean it wasn’t that progressive because engaged in a difficult but cathartic process of group that’s why it needed to be revised in the 60s and cast therapy. She was hugely moved and impressed by the off to be re-thought again. But it was the beginning of prisoners’ ability to care for each other and the public a mentality of ‘no you don’t just get to rule ’, ‘we fought who come in the draconian and hostile environment of the war, we rule now. ’ And it’s just heart-breaking, the prison; she admitted ‘It’s a shame we can’t put that because now we don’t have a notion of society film in this Journal’. anymore, or, we don’t have a notion of affiliation.

38 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 CW: Is this anger linked to the idea that ‘nobody’s SO: Of course there’s a gendered element, we can looking after me, I’m looking after myself ’, and the level conceive of behaviours that are appropriate for each of resentment that this brings? gender to be entirely different. We expect boys to race SO: Yes. It incentivises the notion of ‘I’m going to cars and fight, we don’t expect girls to go and beat up toughen up now. And I’m going to have my own little granny, or each other. In this context, aggression has to rules. This is the sheet it’ll all go on. I’ll tick anything on be somehow channelled if you’re a girl. it, and don’t you dare come anywhere near me and AC: In a similar vein then, is punishment and the my plan ’. promise of authority attached to it about expressing AC: So, is punitiveness then an emotion, an some forms of ‘toxic masculinity ’? expression? SO: I think a better way to think about it, but SO: It serves an emotional role, it’s driven by that’s just because I’ve been thinking about this emotion. But, no, it’s a behaviour. and I moved from toxic masculinity about 15 years AC: The rise or return to this right-wing ago, I think it’s best described as the result of a authoritarian kind of politics that we see around us fragile masculinity. today, in migration and education, for instance, The discussion on fragility was helpful on multiple happening here, the US, across levels. It helped us see the ‘urge ’ to punish as Europe. Do you think there’re psychosocially wider and driven by our sense of self; as fulfilling a links between that We see different set of unsatisfied fears and phenomenon and this turn to vulnerabilities in a world that is punitive measures: punishing people as worthy of often unforgiving to signs of more people, for longer, letting weakness and does not often punishment spill out in our punishment in open up safe spaces for dialogue, schools, hospitals, immigration different degrees. contact and self-expression. It policies, into our language or also helped us make sense of the logics. For instance, we’ve current state of crisis in prisons. SO: Of course. if recognition seen support for the We discussed how we have is not what you get when you’re prisons largely built upon and in a family, in the school, if you gendered idea that representing a range of don’t have a society that a ‘bad’ girl is worse traditionally masculinist-ascribed recognises you just for you being ideas like order, authority and human, then what options have than a ‘bad’ boy. control. Our capacity for care and you got? There’re very few people getting sufficient conversation in such contexts is recognition today, so then you’ve got to react. I think often hindered by various practical and structural punishment is a consequence of the lack of recognition constraints but also by the need to perform certain we experience in contemporary society.I know it’s a bit representation s of ‘toughness ’ in the context of of a funny leap to make, but I do think it’s all linked. criminal justice. After all, why is it that only a few of Though punitiveness is not a feeling in itself, in the our prisons are founded upon therapeutic principles? absence of recognition you feel like ‘I’m not having Similarly, what are currently prevailing logics inside this ’, your authority is being threatened, you feel prisons? See, for instance, the focus in prison staff there’re no boundaries, you think I need to get back training, where clearly there is an overemphasis on control, something like ‘get this room cleaned up now, control and restraint. or I’m out of control ’, or whatever it is that’s triggering However, this ‘masculinist ’ focus has its limitations; you. But when doing so, you don’t think of what you’re such structures are increasingly challenged and resisted doing as being punitive, you think of it as ‘this is what I by prisoners (often using similarly masculinist tactics), need to do for me now ’. and this raises questions about the very purpose of such damaging spaces, both for officers and prisoners. This Gendered fragility in punishment discussion also took us to the issue of boundaries, a big theme in psychotherapeutic contexts. Orbach clarified CW: We see different people as worthy of that punishment is all about the lack of appropriate and punishment in different degrees. For instance, we’ve helpful boundaries; hence why, according to her, today seen support for the gendered idea that, a bad girl punishment is deemed more and more necessary: is worse than a bad boy. Is there a gendered SO: It could be said that we’ve got a element to punishment? misunderstanding of what constitutes a boundary.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 39 Because we all need boundaries, you can’t think or children about vulnerability? We don’t have proper relate without a boundary. So the question is: shouldn’t emotional education and we’re so divided as a society. we have a discussion about what a boundary might I mean we’re in silos politically, we’re in silos age-wise, look like within a frame that goes beyond punishment etc. I think it’s quite possible not to relate outside your or cruelty. own group these days. In other words, as boundaries are increasingly AC: Is punitivness then driven by us not being blurred and fluid, we are more insecure and uncertain emotionally educated or emotionally intelligent? within our relationships and interactions. Such lack of SO: Yeah, I think there is no emotional literacy clarity can make one feel at once both vulnerable and around, we don’t teach it. We do not teach about unnecessarily hostile. Lack of boundaries, then, can feelings, and we don’t tolerate them. Normally take us back to a primitive reliance on violent forms of families have a couple of feelings that are tropes for protection. It is worth noting, however, that the notion that family, right? You might be the angry family, or of having boundaries in psychoanalytic terms is rather you might be the smiley family, or you might be the different to that of isolationism, borders and walls. funny family, but that’s not it. Famously my son, when he was about 5/6, once said to me ‘why do we have to Addressing punitivity be a feeling family? ’ AC: If we were going to try and resolve all of this It seems then that therapeutically speaking, there hostility, is there an answer? Is there a therapeutic is a way around punitiveness and punishment. For us, approach to all this? that was an optimistic and hopeful way to end this SO: I suppose it would be parenting in a broader, conversation. After all, a therapeutic approach can help social sense of the term, in terms of state or civic care. teach and develop a healthier exposure to emotional We used to give kids orange juice and milk, and that literacy and honesty. This, in turn, can help channel our was part of what you got, and you’d have the health vulnerabilities and fragility within safer, more accepting visitor coming around every day when you had a baby, spaces that don’t rely on the quickly satisfying but not because you had problems that would be ordinary, sustainable solutions afforded by institutional and every woman would have them. They’d be there to personal relations reliant on punishment, control and listen to them and then calm you down. It was just sort distrust. Of course, for such approach to emerge, we of part of what you had. And, yes, there was some need a collective will to move away and beyond our looking after. So you’d have the experience of existing reliance on punishment; we need to see it as not always outside yourself, being within a collective. We don’t necessary and certainly not always helpful, neither for have any of that now and I’m not saying that’s all we offenders nor for us, as communities and individuals. need, but there’s no undergirding, no early We also need to feel less pain and isolation. Socially, intervention. And, also, it’s about what you teach then, the antidote to punishment may be to work children and adults. For instance, what are we teaching towards a more genuine, collective sense of solidarity.

40 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 Feeding the prison crisis through hostile criminalisation The case of joint enterprise Dr Henrique Carvalho is Associate Professor at the School of Law, University of Warwick

The past few years have seen prisons in England Officers’ Association to organise a mass walkout and Wales consistently put under the spotlight in September 2018, which was then called off on by the media, politicians, independent the same day after concessions from the prisons campaigners and by the wider public. The image minister. 5 that comes out of this scrutiny is that of a In many ways, this crisis is one of numbers. It system undergoing a serious and persistent is inherently linked to a process of mass incarceration: crisis. Since 2015, various news and reports overcrowding in estates that are not fit for purpose, a ‘unveiled disturbing conditions of violence, situation that has been exacerbated by decreases in harm, corruption and disorder, besides staff numbers, which is only one of the significant unprecedentedly high numbers of deaths in consequences of austerity cuts and measures which custody, increases in self-injury, high rates of have been imposed since the economic crisis. drug misuse and, in some cases, large-scale riots ’ Considering that prisons in England and Wales have occurring in English prisons. 1 In the last year been, now for a decade, experiencing conditions of alone, the Chief Inspector of Prisons issued two overcrowding, understaffing and underfunding, it urgent notifications concerning significant and should not be surprising that such institutions would systematic failures at HMP Nottingham 2 and be rife with problems. That being said, this paper HMP Birmingham, 3 the latter a privately-run aims to broaden the debate around the so-called prison under the management of G4S, which prison crisis, by critically examining its context from was then taken under emergency control of the the perspective of criminalisation—of who is Ministry of Justice (MoJ). In addition, the criminalised, how and why. number of assaults, including serious assaults, The first section of the article starts by on both prisoners and staff, as well as the characterising the prison crisis primarily as a crisis of number of self-harming individuals in prison hostility, as the reflection and one of the main reached record high levels in the year ending in manifestations of a problematic urge to punish in March 2018, and the number of deaths in contemporary society. The hostility inherent in custody in the year ending in June 2018 punishment drives its violent and exclusionary aspect, remained high, falling 2 per cent in relation to which is reflected in the character of the prison the previous year, which was the highest population, in which several markers of number recorded to date. 4 The significant marginalisation, deprivation and social exclusion are increase in prisoner violence led the Prison over-represented. After discussing the links between

1. Chamberlen, A. and Carvalho, H. (2019) ‘The Thrill of the Chase: Punishment, Hostility and the Prison Crisis’. Social and Legal Studies 28(1), 100-117, 101. 2. HM Inspector of Prisons (2018), Urgent Notification: HM Prison Nottingham. London: Ministry of Justice. Available at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/01/17jan-sofs-nottingham-letter-and- debrief-pack-for-publication-1.pdf (Accessed: 9 January 2019). 3. HM Inspector of Prisons (2018) Urgent Notification: HM Prison Birmingham. London: Ministry of Justice. Available at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2018/08/16-Aug-UN-letter-HMP-Birmingham- Final.pdf (Accessed: 9 January 2019). 4. Ministry of Justice (2018) Safety in Custody Statistics, England and Wales: Deaths in Prison Custody to June 2018 Assaults and Self-harm to March 2018. London: Prime Minister’s Office. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/729496/safety-in-custody- bulletin-2018-Q1.pdf (Accessed: 9 January 2019). 5. The Guardian (2018) Prison officers end mass walkout over inmate violence. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/14/thousands-of-prison-officers-to-protest-over-unprecedented-violence (Accessed: 9 January 2019).

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 41 the prison crisis and the hostility in punishment, the interventions, or even through more broad-ranging paper turns to an analysis of processes of reforms. Rather, what is being referred to as the criminalisation, that is, of the role of criminal justice prison crisis is only the most recent manifestation of in enabling the hostility which fuels the prison crisis. persistent issues, that have characterised the English By drawing parallels between criminalisation and and Welsh prison estates for decades. 6 Indeed, punishment, the paper explores how the current perhaps the best way to understand the prison crisis challenges experienced by prisons in England and is to see it not as a deviation from the normal running Wales are one part of a broader framework, in which of the prison, but rather as the manifestation of some specific populations which espouse certain of the most fundamental aspects of punishment as a characteristics of ‘undesirability ’ and exclusion are social phenomenon. From this perspective, the prison consistently marked as dangerous in order to be crisis is intrinsically linked to the problematic socio- criminalised and punished. political function of punishment. 7 The second section of the article then analyses In a collaborative project, Anastasia this process of hostile Chamberlen and I have criminalisation through the examined how the idea and specific case study of joint ...the paper explores feeling that punishment is enterprise (JE). Itself a useful to society, and necessary controversial and contentious how the current from a normative standpoint, subject, which has received challenges largely derive from the fact that considerable attention by the punishment produces a sense media, politicians, courts and experienced by of social solidarity through scholarship in the past few prisons in England hostility. 8 In a nutshell, years, JE broadly refers to legal ‘punishment promotes the rules that allow multiple and Wales are one image of an ordered society individuals to be prosecuted bound together by moral and punished for a crime part of a broader values and legal rules and substantially committed by framework …[of protected by a strong and another person, on the basis legitimate coercive apparatus ’.9 that they were associated with over-criminalisation]. This image is very emotionally or participating in a previous appealing, especially in moments joint criminal activity with that and situations of social person. JE’s broad application, its ostensive character fragmentation and conflict, and to those people who and its persistence in lieu of significant criticism long for strong bonds of solidarity but feel alienated or arguably make it a prime example of the hostile neglected by the social order. Consequently, the image dimension of both criminalisation and punishment. of civil order 10 promoted by punishment is more appealing the less it is concretely experienced by Dangerousness and hostility: The links between those who aspire to it. The most concerning aspect of criminalisation and punishment this symbolic function of punishment, however, is that the sense of solidarity it fosters is achieved Although it is undeniable that the penal through hostility; that is, punishment brings people system in England and Wales is currently undergoing together only insofar as they are pitted against a particularly challenging period, it is also important others, against whom they must unite. 11 to avoid falling into the trap of thinking that this crisis Punishment thus feeds on hostility. Its represents an exceptional situation that contrasts symbolic role relies on the existence of dangerous with the ‘normal ’ functioning of the prison, and that others towards whom feelings of insecurity, anxiety such normality can be rescued through targeted and aggression arising from the lack of concrete

6. See Hart, E. L.; Schlembach, R. (2015) ‘The Wrexham Titan prison and the case against prison expansion’. Critical and Radical Social Work 3(2), 289-294. 7. See Chamberlen and Carvalho, ‘The Thrill of the Chase’ above. 8. See Carvalho, H. and Chamberlen, A. (2016) ‘Punishment, justice and emotions’. In: Tonry M (ed.) Oxford Handbooks Online in Criminology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1–31; Carvalho, H. and Chamberlen, A. (2018) ‘Why Punishment Pleases: Punitive Feelings in a World of Hostile Solidarity’. Punishment and Society 20(2), 217-234; Chamberlen, A. and Carvalho, H. (forthcoming) ‘Punitiveness and the Emotions of Punishment: Between Solidarity and Hostility’. In M. H. Jacobsen and S. Walklate (eds.) Towards a Criminology of Emotions (London: Routledge). 9. Chamberlen and Carvalho, ‘The Thrill of the Chase’ above, 7. 10. Farmer, L. (2016) Making the Modern Criminal Law: Criminalization and Civil Order. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Carvalho, H. (2017) The Preventive Turn in Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 11. See Carvalho and Chamberlen, ‘Why Punishment Pleases’ above.

42 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 social solidarity can be channelled. This relationship legitimacy of society’s civil order, by channelling its explains the fundamental link between punishment insecurity towards the perceived threat of those and political exclusion: the civil order sustained by identified as dangerous others. punishment requires groups and individuals who fall The violent and exclusionary aspect of outside of it. Within any specific social setting, the punishment thus begins with, and largely depends most likely candidates to be made targets of such on, broader and earlier processes of criminalisation hostility are those groups and individuals who are occurring in society. This relation is particularly acute already marginalised by socio-political conditions, in some areas of criminalisation, which can be seen to something which is highlighted by the long- be directly geared towards the identification and established notion that punishment, and especially construction of dangerous identities; such instances incarceration, ‘represents a means to manage of criminalisation can be specifically conceptualised aggregate ‘undesirable ’ groups’. 12 This is clearly as hostile. The rest of this article focuses on illustrated by the constitution of the prison examining one such example of hostile population in England and Wales, where essentially criminalisation, that of joint enterprise. Through this all factors representing some form of social analysis, I aim to illustrate how the shape and effects marginalisation and deprivation—such as of the law and policy around JE not only express the homelessness, poverty, drug and hostility of punishment alcohol dependency, persistent discussed above, but also how mental health issues, learning The violent and this hostility directly relates to disabilities, and belonging to a and feeds the most prominent largely marginalised ethnic exclusionary aspect and problematic aspects of the minority—are over-represented of punishment thus prison crisis. in relation to the general population. 13 begins with, and The hostile criminalisation For punishment to be largely depends on, of joint enterprise able to effectively channel hostility towards these broader and earlier As mentioned above, JE is marginalised populations, it one of the most widely criticised relies on the many rituals of processes of areas of criminal justice in criminalisation 14 performed by criminalisation England and Wales. Seen as a the law and in the many stages product of judicial policy, it is a of the criminal justice system. occurring in society. broad and imprecise term, and Essentially, criminal laws and can have different possible meanings. More generally, it criminal justice agents and refers to different rules and strategies aimed at institutions define and reproduce images that ‘holding co-defendants equally responsible for symbolically tie factors and characteristics of offences which appeared to evince a common deprivation together with notions of violence and purpose ’;16 this can cover a diversity of situations. For criminality, effectively turning what might otherwise instance, two or more individuals may be committing be considered aspects of vulnerability into markers of the same crime together, as joint principals; dangerousness. Through this process of alternatively, someone can be acting as an accessory, ‘dangerization ’15 of undesirable groups and assisting or encouraging another person(s) to commit individuals, criminalisation enacts one of its primary the principal, substantive offence. But the most functions: that of reassuring law-abiding citizens (i.e. controversial situation covered by joint enterprise is those who are not criminalised) of the security and what has been known as the doctrine of JE ‘proper’,

12. Davis, A. P. and Gibson-Light, M. (2018) ‘Difference and Punishment: Ethno-political Exclusion, Colonial Institutional Legacies, and Incarceration’. Punishment and Society (Online First), 1-22, 17; see also Fassin, D. (2018) The Will to Punish. New York: Oxford University Press; Wacquant, L. (2009) Punishing the Poor. Durham, NC: Duke University Press; Feeley, M. and Simon, J. (1992) ‘The new penology: Notes on the emerging strategy of corrections and its implications’. Criminology 30(4), 449–474. 13. Prison Reform Trust (2018) Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile: Autumn 2018. Available at: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Bromley per cent20Briefings/Autumn per cent202018 per cent20Factfile.pdf (Accessed: 9 January 2019). 14. See Carvalho and Chamberlen, ‘Why Punishment Pleases’ above. 15. Lianos, M. and Douglas, M. (2000) ‘Dangerization and the End of Deviance: The Institutional Environment’. British Journal of Criminology 40, 261-278. 16. Squires, P. (2016a) ‘Voodoo Liability: Join Enterprise Prosecution as an Aspect of Intensified Criminalisation’. Oñati Socio-Legal Series 6(4), 937-956, 937. 17. For a comprehensive discussion of the legal aspects and the case history surrounding PAL, see the case of R v Jogee [2016] UKSC 8.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 43 also termed parasitic accessorial liability, or PAL; 17 this could be considered the appropriate limits of criminal involves a situation when, during the course of a joint liability, JE has also been decried as unfair and criminal activity, one of the participants commits a imbalanced, as it overwhelmingly targets young further crime that departs from the common purpose Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) males from of said criminal activity. In such cases, PAL stipulated impoverished urban communities. 21 The 2016 report that the other participants in the joint enterprise Dangerous Associations: Joint enterprise, gangs and could be held liable and convicted of the further racism, by Patrick Williams and Becky Clarke, 22 crime, so long as they had foreseen or realised that evidenced how criminalisation through JE this further crime might happen. predominantly relies on the racialised construction of Most importantly, the doctrine of JE has been the idea of ‘gang related ’ violence. The symbolism of widely (and quite effectively) used in recent decades the gang as a paradigmatic ‘folk devil ’23 has proven to to deal with cases involving homicide, especially murder. A 2014 report by the Bureau of Investigative be a powerful tool through which marginalised Journalism 18 found that, between 2005 and 2013, groups of young BAME individuals can be effectively 4,590 prosecutions for homicide involved two or essentialised into the figure of dangerous others. This more defendants (44 per cent of way, traits that could otherwise all homicide prosecutions in that highlight a condition of period), while 1,853 people Joint Enterprise has vulnerability—a socially have been prosecuted for deprived background, lack of homicide in a charge that also been decried as opportunities, experiences of involved four or more people, unfair and discrimination and alienation— which amounted to 17.7 per are reinterpreted as markers of cent of all homicide imbalanced, as it dangerousness, which conditions prosecutions in that period. This a specific kind of response— is particularly significant since a overwhelmingly individualistic criminal justice conviction for murder carries a instead of a broader social justice, mandatory life sentence, targets young Black, meaning that individuals were Asian and minority for instance. sent to prison for long periods This construction of of time, potentially their whole ethnic (BAME) males a dangerous identity thus lives, based on loose notions symbolically conjoins two such as foresight of possible from impoverished different kinds of anxiety: a violence for which they were urban communities. specific fear of crime, and a not directly responsible. The more general anxiety about 2014 report estimated that socio-political fragmentation around 500 people were serving lif e sentences for and uncertainty linked to conditions of structural convictions based on JE at that time. More recently, violence. In so doing, it produces a conception of JE was the focus of a debate in the House of ‘group threat ’24 which concentrates feelings of Commons, where it was estimated that at least 4,500 people, including children, were incarcerated hostility upon it, generating a skewed picture of the on the basis of the problematic doctrine, ‘serving problem which downplays its complexity. The result is long sentences for crimes that they did not that the specific group that is identified as dangerous commit ’.19 is disproportionately criminalised. For instance, Williams and Clarke’s study has shown that the Identifying the threat ‘gang ’ label is overwhelmingly attributed to Black men, even though a much lower proportion of Black Besides being a prime example of men is involved in violence: 81 per cent of individuals ‘overcriminalization ’,20 since it stretches beyond what identified by the police as gang members in

18. McClenaghan, M., McFadyean, M. and Stevenson, R. (2014) Joint Enterprise: An investigation into the legal doctrine of joint enterprise in criminal convictions. London: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. 19. HC Deb (25 January 2018) vol. 635, col. 445. Available at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-01- 25/debates/00389B37-64AA-4AC8-BBBB-BE6B98F9C5C1/JointEnterprise (Accessed: 9 January 2019). 20. Husak, D. (2007) Overcriminalization: The Limits of the Criminal Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 21. See Bridges, L. (2013) ‘The case against joint enterprise’. Race & Class 54(4), 33-42. 22. Williams, P. and Clarke, B. (2016) Dangerous associations: Joint enterprise, gangs and racism. London: Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. 23. Cohen, S. (1972) Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. London: MacGibbon and Kee. 24. See Davis and Gibson-Light, ‘Difference and Punishment’ above.

44 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 Manchester, and 72 per cent in London, were Black, to infer that these individuals would be likely to while Black individuals only constituted 6 per cent of foresee violence arising from their actions. 27 There is those individuals involved in serious youth violence in therefore a significant forensic usefulness in this Manchester, and 27 per cent in London. 25 characterisation, as it assigns a form of character So, even though such forms of criminalisation responsibility 28 to defendants that sets them apart, thus may sometimes be related to legitimate concerns, such making it easier to charge and prosecute them, and for as the serious social problem around knife crime and juries to convict them. youth violence in socially deprived urban environments What this also shows is that, in such in England, the ostensible focus of criminalisation on prosecutions, the symbolism attached to the image of specific populations that can more easily be constructed the dangerous other takes precedence over material as dangerous others is not only unfair and circumstances, since it conditions the assessment of the discriminatory, but also fails to adequately identify and blameworthiness of the defendants. This means, for address the concrete origins of the harm in question. instance, that the police can use a range of mainly Instead, it seems that the main purpose of such circumstantial evidence, such as phone, text and social criminalisation is precisely to provide a suitable target media records and Rap and Drill videos, to produce the for hostility. image that the defendants have some connection and affiliation Shaping and enabling the Possibly one of the to something that can be response identified as a gang. 29 JE enables main factors that criminalisation based on foresight This racialised and and association, and the exclusionary definition of gang underpin these construction of dangerous violence as the primary threat in strategies and belonging 30 enacted around gang this area of criminalisation not violence enables such criminal only shapes the deployment of processes lies in responsibility to be mainly JE, by making it the allure of ‘presumed, legally inferred or disproportionately affect specific juridically established by marginalised populations, but the hostility proximity, app earance, and also enables such deployment, implied normative association. first by facilitating the engendered When it looks like a gang — and prosecution and conviction of by them. especially when the police call it defendants, and second by a gang — it must be a gang ’.31 giving them an appearance of Possibly one of the social utility. The law around JE has been criticised to main factors that underpin these be unclear, and juries often find it confusing to strategies and processes lies in the allure of the hostility apply. 26 The idea that individuals can be liable for engendered by them. To see defendants in these cases having foreseen that a murder, for instance, might not as complex, socially deprived, and often vulnerable happen as a possible departure from another form of individuals, but as potentially violent gang members criminal activity (which can be broadly defined, and makes their criminalisation seem useful, even necessary. often involves occasions of spontaneous, not Under this prism, cases of JE become manifestations of necessarily serious, violence) can be rather nebulous, a broader conflict between an ordered, peaceful, and difficult to establish. But when defendants are legitimate society, and those who pose a threat to it. characterised as members of a gang, or (which seems This allows a process of estrangement from those who to be the rule in many cases) more loosely affiliated are dehu manised and essentialised as dangerous with notions of ‘gang culture ’, this generates a others—often characterised as ‘wolf packs ’,32 or presumption of dangerousness from which it is easier ‘packs of hyenas ’33 —by their criminalisation, which in

25. Williams and Clarke, Dangerous Associations above, charts 4 and 5). 26. Crewe, B., Liebling, A., Padfield, N. and Virgo, G. (2015) ‘Joint enterprise: The implications of an unfair and unclear law’. Criminal Law Review, 252-269. 27. See Krebs, B. (2015) ‘Mens Rea in Joint Enterprise: A Role for Endorsement?’ Cambridge Law Journal 74(3), 480-504. 28. Lacey, N. (2016) In Search of Criminal Responsibility: Ideas, Interests, and Institutions. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 29. Pitts, J. (2014) ‘Who Dunnit? Gangs, Joint Enterprise, Bad Character and Duress’. Youth and Policy 113, 48-59. 30. See Carvalho, H. (forthcoming) ‘Joint Enterprise, Hostility, and the Construction of Dangerous Belonging’. In J. Pratt (ed.), Criminal Justice, Risk and the Revolt against Uncertainty. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan. 31. Squires, P. (2016b) ‘Constructing the Dangerous, Black, Criminal ‘Other’’. British Society of Criminology Newsletter 79, 1-4. 32. Green, A. and McGourlay, C. (2015) ‘The Wolf Packs in Our Midst and Other Products of Criminal Joint Enterprise Prosecutions’. The Journal of Criminal Law 79(4), 280-297. 33. See Crewe et al, ‘Joint enterprise: The implications of an unfair and unclear law’ above.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 45 turn makes it acceptable for them to be treated with conviction, and often appeal against them. 36 This violence and aggression, thus channelling such tends to undermine these individuals’ capacity to negative feelings and attitudes towards them. adapt to the prison environment and makes them more likely to rebel against it, thus worsening the Deepening and obscuring the prison crisis already painful and detrimental effects of the experience of incarceration. 37 Forms of hostile criminalisation such as that At the same time, these processes of hostile engendered by JE feed directly into the chaotic state criminalisation simultaneously obscure the causes and in which prisons in England and Wales currently find scope of the prison crisis, by reinforcing the idea of themselves. They contribute to prison overcrowding, the prison as a legitimate institution, which is by enabling instances of necessary to contain the threat ‘wholesale ’ criminalisation of dangerous criminals. This grounded on a low threshold of ...these processes logic leads to efforts to try and criminal liability; and they ‘fix ’ the prison without provide the means through of hostile concretely addressing its which marginalised groups are criminalisation problems, since these problems disproportionately targeted, are related to the main function thus contributing to their over- simultaneously that is given to the prison in the representation in the prison obscure the causes first place: the engendering of population. More specifically, JE hostility. 38 not only feeds into the prison and scope of the The same vicious cycle can crisis but effectively deepens it. be seen in recent developments Its targeted and ostensible prison crisis, by in JE. After several attempts to criminalisation of young Black reinforcing the idea engage with the issues around urban men for serious crimes, this area of the law, the often murder, on the basis of a of the prison as a Supreme Court (SC) finally low threshold of liability and addressed it in its decision in R v often circumstantial evidence, legitimate Jogee, 39 stating categorically exacerbates some of the worst institution, which is that the doctrine of JE ‘was aspects of mass incarceration. It based on an incomplete, and in sends a large number of necessary to contain some respects erroneous, marginalised individuals to the threat of reading of the previous case prison for long sentences, often law, coupled with generalised for crimes which they did not dangerous criminals. and questionable policy commit. arguments ’,40 and it should A series of studies by therefore be abolished. members of the Institute of Criminology at the However, what appeared at first to be a watershed in University of Cambridge found that those convicted this area of the law was soon revealed to have under JE were generally serving longer sentences changed very little. First, while the SC essentially than other individuals convicted of similar crimes, and declared that the law of JE was defective, it also that there was an even higher over-representation of paradoxically maintained that previous JE convictions BAME individuals in JE convictions than in the general should not be overturned unless ‘substantial injustice ’ prison population. 34 BAME individuals convicted could be demonstrated. So far, nearly all appeals under JE were also usually younger, were serving post-Jogee have been dismissed. And second, as the longer sentences, and usually had more co- SC itself conceded in its decision in Jogee, while the defendants during trial. 35 In addition, a significant error identified with the doctrine of JE was ‘important number of those convicted under JE do not feel they as a matter of legal principle … it does not follow were justly treated by the criminal justice system; for that it will have been important on the facts to the this reason, they fail to understand or accept their outcome of the trial or to the safety of the

34. See ibid. 35. See Williams and Clarke, Dangerous Associations above. 36. See Crewe et al, ‘Joint enterprise: The implications of an unfair and unclear law’ above. 37. See Liebling, A. and Maruna. S. (2005) The Effects of Imprisonment. Willan Publishing: London. 38. See Chamberlen and Carvalho, ‘The Thrill of the Chase’ above. 39. [2016] UKSC 8. 40. Ibid at para 79.

46 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 conviction ’.41 In other words, while the law seems to social problems. Hostile criminalisation ostensibly have changed in form, in substance it has remained identifies who should be punished by constructing essentially the same. Indeed, individuals continue to specific, often vulnerable groups and individuals as be convicted in JE cases, 42 and the Crown Prosecution dangerous others, and enables their punishment. In Service (CPS) continues to rely on the same so doing, these processes not only feed but actively prosecutorial strategies. 43 As long as we continue to exacerbate the factors of the prison crisis: use criminalisation both as a means of engendering a overcrowding, discrimination, exclusion and prison specific, hostile, form of solidarity, and as a scapegoat harm. At the same time, the symbolic allure of for broader social problems, it will continue to be hostility also obscures the causes and scope of the violent, discriminatory and exclusionary; the same can crisis, by shifting the focus from the problems of be said of punishment. punishment to the threat posed by dangerous others, Conclusion thus making criminalisation and punishment seem necessary. To resist this logic, the paper has suggested This paper has discussed how the challenges that the prison crisis is primarily a manifestation of underpinning the current prison crisis are inherently the pursuit of hostile solidarity in a fragmented and linked to processes of producing hostile solidarity structurally violent society, which must be tackled through the criminalisation of marginalised before any significant change to the criminal justice populations, which are themselves linked to broader system can be achieved.

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41. Ibid at para 100. 42. Croydon Advertiser (2018) Jermaine Goupall killer has to be held back in the dock as he lashes out after being found guilty. Available at: https://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/news/croydon-news/jermaine-goupall-killer-held-back-1215673 (Accessed: 9 January 2019). 43. Although the CPS has now, after criticism, amended its post-Jogee guidance on accessorial liability about being cautious when using the term ‘gang’ – see Crown Prosecution Service (2018) Secondary Liability: charging decisions on principals and accessories. Available at: https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/secondary-liability-charging-decisions-principals-and-accessories (Accessed: 9 January 2019).

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 47 Getting out of the crisis Richard Garside is Director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies

Tate Britain, a short walk from the Centre for favourable impression of the Philadelphian Crime and Justice Studies offices, is one of the system; and, amongst these, Lord John UK’s finest art galleries. In the nineteenth Russell, who, being secretary for the Home century it was the site of Millbank Prison, 1 built Department, got an Act introduced into on land purchased for £12,000 from the Parliament in 1839 (2 and 3 Vict. c. 56), Marquis of Salisbury by the father of containing a clause rendering separate utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham. 2 Completed confinement legal in this country. A model between 1812 and 1822, Millbank was crisis- prison on this plan was resolved upon. prone from the start: Major Jebb was set to prepare a scheme of details. The first stone was laid on the 10th [I]n the spring of 1816 cracks appeared in of April, 1840, and the works were some of the pentagon walls, and putting completed in the autumn of 1842, at a cost these right brought the total cost of the jail of more than £90,000. 4 to a staggering £458,000. Prisoners rioted about their food allowance in 1817, and In the most recent inspection report on between 1822 and 1824 30 prisoners died Pentonville, the Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter from diarrhoea, which resulted in the whole Clarke, noted that ‘[g]ang behaviour is pervasive and prison population being evacuated… [T]here brings significant challenges for stability and good were riots in September 1826 and again in order ’ and that ‘one in five men was taking anti- March 1827; various warders were assaulted psychotic drugs ’. Clarke also raised concerns about and in one incident the infirmary warder’s high levels of violence and suicide, and drew cat was found hanged. 3 attention to ‘frailties in the case management and care for men vulnerable to suicide and self-harm ’. The Pentonville Prison in North London, completed in prison was also ‘very overcrowded and the building the early 1840s, was built as a replacement for had suffered from years of underinvestment and Millbank. Today it remains one of London’s main neglect ’.5 prisons. It was conceived following an 1834 The UK’s largest prison, HMP Berwyn in North government report into the Philadelphian ‘separate Wales, opened in 2017. Built on the site of a former system ’. As Walter Thornbury noted in 1878, citing tyre factory at a cost of £250 million, it has capacity the man of letters, William Dixon: for over 2,000 prisoners. 6 One former tyre builder who worked at the factory told a local history project Many people,’ says Mr. Dixon in his ‘London in 2017 that he was now working for a joinery Prisons, ’ published in 1850, ‘were seduced company involved in the construction of the prison. 7 by the report issued in 1834, into a In August 2018 the Governor of Berwyn was

1. Kennedy, J. (2013) ‘Before Tate Britain, there was the dreaded Millbank prison’. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/context- comment/blogs/tate-britain-there-was-dreaded-millbank-prison. [Accessed 6 September 2018]. 2. Thornbury, W. (1878) Old and New London: Volume 4. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new- london/vol4/pp1-13. [Accessed 6 September 2018]. 3. Wilson, D. (2014), Pain and Retribution: A Short History of British Prisons, 1066 to the Present. London: Reaktion Books, 50. 4. Thornbury, W. (1878) Old and New London: Volume 2. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new- london/vol2/pp279-289. [Accessed 6 September 2018]. 5. HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2017) Report on an announced inspection of HMP Pentonville. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections/hmp-pentonville-2/. [Accessed 29 September 2018]. 6. BBC News (2013) ‘£250m super-prison to be built on ex-Firestone factory land’. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk- wales-north-east-wales-23957373. [Accessed 6 September 2018]. 7. Wrexham History (2017) ‘Memories of Firestone Wrexham’. Comment by Phil Burden. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.wrexham- history.com/memories-firestone-wrexham/#comment-238. [Accessed 6 September 2018].

48 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 suspended, following allegations made against him. 8 Government over criminal justice and public services A report from the prison’s Independent Monitoring policy, and on strategies to prevent criminalisation, Board, a month earlier, had found that illicit drugs recriminalisation and imprisonment 12 . The plans to were ‘readily available ’ in the prison. It also reported build the prison have since been shelved. Other that one in five of the prisoners said that they felt prisons are in the pipeline. unsafe. 9 These pen portraits of four prisons, and one The largest women’s prison in western Europe, potential future prison, in the England and Wales Holloway in North London, was closed in 2016. A few criminal justice jurisdiction suggest at least two ways years earlier, a study by the Centre for Crime and of thinking about the prisons crisis and about what it Justice Studies of housing and resettlement support would mean to get out the crisis. for black and minority ethnic women leaving First, we can think about the prison crisis as a Holloway painted a disturbing picture of gaps and crisis in prisons. Millbank and Pentonville, Berwyn and holes in provision. One former prisoner told the Holloway have all been crisis-prone institutions in one researchers about how she had survived following her shape or form. They are not alone. In 2018, the release: England and Wales prisons inspectorate has issued four Urgent Notifications Nowhere to go, nowhere to following inspections of go, and then like you got, First, we can think Bedford, Birmingham, Exeter you want somewhere to and Nottingham prisons. sleep, you have to go buy about the prison Indeed, the inspectorate has someone a smoke and then crisis as a crisis of ‘documented some of the most you can stay at their house disturbing prison conditions we for the night and then you prisons…Second, have ever seen—conditions just get back into, just get which have no place in an back into the drug side of we can think about advanced nation in the 21st it… I mean Broadwater the prison crisis century ’.13 Farm is a bad area around Within the England and here, and I was staying in as a crisis Wales jurisdiction, some prisons the crack house on of imprisonment. are less crisis-prone than other Broadwater Farm, in a prisons. Across the UK, some cupboard. 10 jurisdictions appear less crisis- prone than those in other jurisdictions. The Scottish At the time of writing, a local campaign— prisons system, for example, appears to have been Community Plan for Holloway—is mobilising support less crisis-prone than the England and Wales, and around a positive vision for the site, such as social Northern Ireland, prison systems over recent years. housing, community buildings and spaces that foster But crises do appear to be a regular feature of many human flourishing and respond to human needs. 11 or most prisons, both over time and at any given The British Government had hoped to build a point in time. Crises in prisons appear to be an new prison on a patch of land on an industrial estate inherent feature of many prisons, rather than an in Port Talbot, South Wales. The Welsh Government, uncommon aberration. which originally supported the plans, came out in Second, we can think about the prison crisis as a opposition. It called for dialogue with the British crisis of imprisonment. This crisis is our enduring

8. BBC News (2018) ‘HMP Berwyn governor Russell Trent suspended amid allegations’. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-45262381. [Accessed 29 September 2018]. 9. Independent Monitoring Boards (2018) Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board at HMP Berwyn. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.imb.org.uk/independent-monitoring-board-imb-hmp-berwyn-releases-first-annual-report/. [Accessed 29 September 2018]. 10. Grimshaw, R., S. Harding, M Watkins and S Szydlowska (2013) Housing needs of women from minority ethnic groups leaving HMP Holloway. London: Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/publications/housing-needs-women-minority-ethnic-groups-leaving-hmp-holloway. [Accessed 29 September 2018]. 11. Community Plan for Holloway (2018) Unlocking Holloway for the Community. [ONLINE] Available at: https://acommunityplanforholloway.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/download_plan4holloway-pdf-for-web.pdf. [Accessed 6 September 2018]. 12. Davies, A. (2018) ‘Written Statement—Justice Policy in Wales’. [ONLINE] Available at: https://gov.wales/about/cabinet/cabinetstatements/2018/justicepolicyinwales/?lang=en. [Accessed 29 September 2018]. 13. HM Inspector of Prisons (2018) Annual Report 2017–18. London: HM Stationery Office. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/inspections/annual-report-2017-18/. [Accessed 29 September 2018].

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 49 attachment to prison and imprisonment as a social Wales experience in particular. I hope that the institution. It is about the apparent inevitability of our conceptual framework might also have relevance for commitment to making and remaking the same those considering prison crises in other jurisdictions. institutions, again and again, some two hundred years after Millbank prison was built. It is about our Getting out of the crisis in prisons taking for granted the ongoing existence of prison as a social institution, and our apparent inability to Addressing the crisis in individual prison consider other options, different possibilities, in place institutions makes up the stock in trade of of the monotonous making and remaking of the government-led reforms, tweaks and changes. In prison institution. their classic form, they might be traced back to the These two ways of thinking about the prison 1895 Gladstone Committee report on prisons. As crisis are distinct. One is about the crises in individual David Faulkner, a former senior civil servant in the prisons, the other, about the Home Office, claimed, the crisis of our continued remaking Gladstone Committee report, of the social institution of These two ways of and the legislation it inspired, imprisonment. The two crises ‘laid the foundation for a, feed off, and sustain, each thinking about the broadly speaking, liberal set of other. Our commitment to the prison crisis are criminal justice and penal social institution of policies, most of which were not imprisonment compels us distinct. One is seriously challenged for another perennially to build, maintain 60 years ’.14 This consensus, and rebuild prisons. By building, about the crises in Faulkner argued, came maintaining and rebuilding individual prisons, increasingly under pressure individual prisons, we also during the 1990s, with the rise reaffirm and revalidate the the other, about the of populist and punitive politics social institution of crisis of our that first wrong-footed, then imprisonment. So it is that the marginalised, liberal penal twentieth century, the century continued remaking policies and politics. of prison reform, was also the of the social Those looking for evidence century of dramatic prison of this ‘broadly… liberal ’ growth. As policy makers institution of approach might find it sought to address the crisis of imprisonment. expressed in the 1964 Prison prisons, the crisis of Rules for England and Wales, imprisonment deepened. the first rule of which stated Attempts to escape these two prison crises—the that the ‘purpose of the training and treatment of crisis in prisons and the crisis of imprisonment— convicted prisoners shall be to encourage and assist prompt different responses. The crisis in prisons calls them to lead a good and useful life ’.15 Other rules forth reform attempts: infrastructural investment, covered appropriately liberal expectations over staff training, regime improvements, for instance. The matters such as nutrition, accommodation, clothing, crisis of imprisonment, by contrast, calls forth a visits, medical attention, prison work and prison pay, variety of demands and proposals: from relatively and so on. Yet as Joe Sim has argued, lofty modest ‘reformist ’ proposals to more avowedly expressions from above have often sat in tension with abolitionist demands. Attempts to address the crisis the grim realities of prison life and operations on the in prisons tend towards reaffirming the apparent ground. The supposedly liberal period of penal validity of the social institution of imprisonment, so policies climaxed in the 1990 Strangeways prison riot. displacing and deferring any serious attempts to As Sim notes, the riot was anything but an aleatory address the crisis of imprisonment. irruption into an otherwise stable order: In the rest of this article, I explore these distinct, The 25-day long occupation of the prison by but related, responses to the two, intertwined prison prisoners, the effective destruction of most of the crises. The perspective is largely informed by the institution’s infrastructure and the apparent United Kingdom experience, and by the England and powerlessness, disorganization and conflict within,

14. Faulkner, D. (2006) Crime, State and Citizen: A Field Full of Folk. Winchester: Waterside Press, 93. 15. The Prison Rules 1964, SI 1964/388. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1964/388/made. [Accessed 1 October 2018].

50 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 and between, state servants, provided a salutary This current commitment to renewing and reminder to the governing Conservative Party that rebuilding the prison estate, and improving outcomes the tensions, which had been apparent since the for staff and prisoners, has several parallels with past 1970s… had not been alleviated. 16 policies. Pentonville was conceived as the successor The current Prison Rules, agreed in 1999, contain to the crisis-prone Millbank. The reforms that a similar set of liberal expectations. 17 They include, followed the Gladstone Committee report were word-for-word, the rule quoted above. Whatever intended to improve the way prisons operated. It is their merits, the current rules have not acted as an important to understand these 19th and 20th century effective protection against the crisis conditions in innovations in their own context, rather than present numerous prisons across England and Wales. them as but so many instances of an ahistoric The widely-held view that the austerity-driven narrative of circularity and failure. It is also striking squeeze on prison budgets since 2010 has been the that successive governments have, over time, sought main cause of the current crisis in prisons 18 carries to respond to contemporary crises in prisons with some explanatory weight. It is also the case that historically distinct approaches that, by embedding prison budgets in England and Wales were being and entrenching the crisis in prisons, have tended to squeezed in the decade up to 2010. 19 Yet such reinforce the crisis of imprisonment. explanations tend to assume In responding to the what needs to be explained: current crisis in prisons, the UK why it was that successive In responding to the Government is working in the governments have sought to current crisis in shadow cast by the decisions of squeeze prison budgets while previous generations. In simultaneously maintaining, or prisons, the UK rebuilding and expanding the indeed e xpanding, the already Government is prison estate, it is repeating the high prison population. It was, at decisions of these past least in principle, possible for working in the generations. It is also building governments of recent years to shadow cast by the future crises in prisons, even as seek to shrink the size of the it is seeking to address the prison estate in line with shrinking decisions of previous current crises in prisons. These budgets. That they chose not to future crises will be the generations. inheritance of the generations do so relates to the wider crisis of to come, who will make policy imprisonment, which is explored on prisons in the shadow cast by in more detail below. the present one. And so the cycle of prison building, More recently, the UK Government’s 2016 White prison maintenance, prison building repeats itself, Paper, Prison Safety and Reform, made a number of compelled by a commitment to the social institution proposals to achieve ‘a transformation away from of imprisonment as an immutable fixture of this and offender warehouses to disciplined and purposeful future societies. centres of reform where all prisoners get a second chance at leading a good life ’.20 Among its proposals were improving regime standards, recruiting new Getting out of the crisis of imprisonment staff and investing in prison leadership. It also Berwyn and Millbank: where now there is a reaffirmed previous commitments ‘to build up to prison, once there was factory; where once there was 10,000 new adult prison places ’ at the cost of £1.3 a prison, now there is an art gallery. Holloway and billion, and to close ‘prisons that are in poor condition and those that do not have a long-term future in Pentonville: one closed, one destined for closure at some point. What will replace them? Another prison, the estate ’.21

16. Sim, J. (2009) Punishment and Prisons: Power and the Carceral State. London: Sage, 56. 17. The Prison Rules 1999, SI 1999/728. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/728/contents/made. [Accessed 1 October 2018]. 18. See e.g. The Guardian (2018) ‘The Guardian view on Birmingham prison: the root problem is austerity’. The Guardian, 20 August. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/20/the-guardian-view-on-birmingham-prison-the-root- problem-is-austerity. [Accessed 1 October 2018]. 19. See Mills, H., A. Silvestri, R. Grimshaw, F. Silberhorn-Armantrading (2010) Prison and probation expenditure, 1999—2009. London: Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/publications/prison-and-probation- expenditure-1999-2009. [Accessed 1 October 2018]. 20. Ministry of Justice (2016) Prison Safety and Reform. Cm 9350. London: HM Stationery Office. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-safety-and-reform. [Accessed 29 September 2018], 3. 21. Ibid, 58.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 51 or other buildings and developments that may better ‘Does she agree… that her overriding aim of serve the interests of those living in their shadow? protecting the public by reducing reoffending and When we think about how to get out of the crisis preventing prisoners from committing crimes in of imprisonment, it helps to remind ourselves that future is almost impossible to achieve so long as every prison that has ever existed was built by people, prisons are overcrowded slums? Will she make the at given points in time, to imprison people, for given courageous decision to start addressing some of the periods of time. Some, such as Millbank, were built sentencing policies of the 1990s and the 2000s, and demolished by previous generations. Others, which accidentally doubled the prison population in such as Holloway, were built by a previous generation those overcrowded slums? Will she ensure that our and closed by the current generation. Still others, prisons are reserved for serious criminals who need such as Pentonville, were built by a previous to be punished, and find better ways of dealing with generation, were inherited by, and are maintained by problems of mental health and drug abuse and with the present generation. Others still, like Berwyn, were irritating, trivial offenders? ’22 built by the present generation, on land that a A month later, Clarke was one of three previous generation had used for a very different signatories to a letter in The Times (the other two purpose. being the former Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, Every prison that has ever and the former Home Secretary, existed, or will ever exist, has a Jacqui Smith), which called for beginning and an end. Every Every prison that the prison population in prison that exists today will one England and Wales to be day not exist. What our and has ever existed, or halved. If this was not done, the future generations chose to do will ever exist, has a authors wrote, ‘the prisons crisis — to build new prisons, or do will do untold damage to wider something else — is a political beginning and an society ’.23 More recently still, the and historical question. It is end…What our and Justice Secretary for England political because the decision to and Wales, David Gauke, build and maintain prisons, or to future generations remarked to The Times that do something else, is wrapped choose to do…is a ‘Twenty five years ago the up in broader questions about [prison] population was 44,000. how the collective wealth and political and Today it’s 84,000. I would like it resources of a given society to fall ’.24 might best be deployed for the historical question. Finally, speaking to the common good. It is an historical House of Commons Justice question because it relates to Committee in June 2018, the the human capacity to shape human societies, for prisons minister, Rory Stewart, set out two policy better or for worse, drawing on the accumulated choices: ideological and material resources handed down by ‘We can do one of two things: we either go for previous generations. the Ken Clarke model, which is that you… gamble To make more concrete these rather abstract everything on being able to reduce the prison observations we might start by mapping the current population; or we can… say that… even though boundaries placed around our human capacity to ideally the prison population will go down, that… is address the crisis of imprisonment. When, in [not] very likely to happen, because I am not sure that November 2016, the then Justice Secretary, Liz Truss, there is the will among the public or Parliament to published the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper, take… measures to reduce that population ’.25 referred to above, one of her predecessors in that These exchanges illustrate the consensus, but role, Ken Clarke, laid down a challenge: also the inertia, at the heart of current attempts to

22. HC Deb (3 November 2016) vol. 616, col. 1071. [ONLINE] Available at: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-11- 03/debates/DE8B3392-280F-4512-93FF-6F82699383BB/PrisonSafetyAndReform#contribution-CAEB7B11-BDD9-423C-8574- 8AAC2EF42DEA. [Accessed: 1 October 2018]. 23. Clegg, N., K Clarke and J. Smith (2016) ‘Call to halve the prison population’. The Times 22 December. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/turkey-russia-and-a-call-for-action-on-syria-sc95fclfq. [Accessed 1 October 2018] 24. Sylvester, R. (2018) ‘David Gauke interview: ‘It’s the carrot and stick: prisoners need to have a sense of purpose’. The Times, 25 May. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/david-gauke-interview-it-s-the-carrot-and-stick-prisoners-need-to-have-a- sense-of-purpose-2mp5qt0kx. [Accessed 1 October 2018] 25. Justice Committee (2018) ‘Oral evidence: Prison population 2022: planning for the future’. [ONLINE] Available at: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/justice-committee/prison-population- 2022/oral/86114.html. [Accessed 1 October 2018], Q56.

52 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 address the crisis of imprisonment. Widespread Widening their gaze from a narrow focus on prison agreement that the prison population should be and penality, the authors also position the question of reduced is matched by a shoulder-shrugging imprisonment within a wider context. ‘[T]he criminal resignation about the possibility of any meaningful justice system ’, they note, ‘is a realm of social policy that action. The crisis of imprisonment, it seems, is an is, and should be linked to others, such as health… unchanging reality for this generation, and for future employment, education and supporting social ones. The interventions by Clarke and Stewart do, services ’.31 While not exploring this wider context in any though, hold out the possibility of getting out of the detail, the authors list crime prevention, education and crisis of imprisonment: in Clarke’s case, the question employment, family policy, diversion from prosecution tends more towards the technocratic (changes to and restorative justice as examples. sentencing policy); in Stewart’s case, the question is How useful is this for getting out of the crisis of more of a political one. imprisonment? The twentieth century was These themes—the technocratic and political— characterised by a toxic combination of the crisis in are explored in some depth by A Presumption Against prisons and the crisis of imprisonment, resulting in Imprisonment, published by the the expansion of the prison British Academy in 2014. 26 The estate and a deepening of both authors of this report take for crises. Were the perspectives granted that reducing the prison Widespread outlined by Clarke and population has an irreducibly agreement that the Stewart, and the prescriptions political dimension, one in A Presumption Against characterised by an ‘inevitably prison population Imprisonment, to be successfully slow and arduous process of should be reduced enacted, they may go some way changing public and political towards lessening both crises. thinking about the use of is matched by a That said, all the approaches so imprisonment ’.27 They also offer shoulder-shrugging far considered take as read that a number of technocratic imprisonment has an ongoing proposals. These include resignation about validity as a social institution. changes to sentencing practices, Those approaching the a review of existing sentence the possibility crisis of imprisonment from an lengths, and developing of any abolitionist standpoint take a alternative provision for those different view. For abolitionists, with mental health problems, meaningful action. it is precisely the reliance on learning disabilities, and those imprisonment—the assumption with drug and alcohol problems. that imprisonment is and should be a timeless, fixed presence in any imaginable The necessary changes, however, are ‘unlikely to be society—that is the crisis. The harmfulness of such brought about solely by changes to the sentencing thinking, at a material level, is clear in the suicides, system ’.28 Prisons policy in particular, and criminal self-harm, broken dreams and wrecked families and justice policy more broadly should be depoliticised, communities that form the collateral damage of through ‘the creation of a Penal Policy Committee… imprisonment. But imprisonment also performs an [to] free penal policy from some of the pressures of ideological role, not least of all in mystifying the social 29 short-term party politics ’. This argument sits in some processes that give rise to the problems to which tension with the authors’ earlier commitment to a long- prison is presented as the answer. As Angela Davis term process of engaging with, and changing, public puts it: and political opinion. Others would argue that too little democratic engagement, rather than too much, has ‘The prison… functions ideologically as an contributed to the current crisis of imprisonment. 30 abstract site into which undesirables are

26. Allen, R., A. Ashworth, R Cotterrell, A. Coyle, A. Duff, N Lacey, A. Leibling, R. Morgan (2014) A Presumption Against Imprisonment: Social Order and Social Values. London: British Academy. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publications/presumption-against-imprisonment-social-order-and-social-values. [Accessed 1 October 2018]. 27. Ibid, 23. 28. Ibid, 87. 29. Ibid, 89. 30. See e.g. Dzur, A., I. Loader and R. Sparks (Eds) (2016) Democratic Theory and Mass Incarceration. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 31. Allen et al above, 89.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 53 deposited, relievin g us of the responsibility of promoting alternatives that might credibly displace thinking about the real issues afflicting those the punishment reflex. 35 communities from which prisoners are drawn That said, given the broad focus of the in such disproportionate numbers ’.32 abolitionist stance, consensus among abolitionists has, unsurprisingly, been conspicuous by its absence. Her own prescriptions for how a future without As Vincenzo Ruggiero has noted, ‘abolitionism does prisons might be achieved are relatively brief, in what not possess one single theoretical or political source is, to be fair, a short book. We should not, she of inspiration, but a composite backdrop from which, argues, look for ‘prison like substitutes for prison ’, wittingly or otherwise, it draws its arguments and such as house arrest and electronic monitoring. proposals for action ’.36 This heterogeneous mix of Rather, we should ‘envision a continuum of influences and inspirations has inevitably resulted in a alternatives to imprisonment—demilitarization of wide range of abolitionist perspectives and schools, revitalization of education at all levels, a prescriptions, some more persuasive than others. health system that provides free physical and mental This lack of clarity is as much a resource to draw on care to all, and a justice system based on reparation as a problem to overcome. For if we are to get out of and reconciliation rather than retribution and the crisis of imprisonment, and stop reproducing fresh 33 vengeance ’. A not dissimilar set of proposals are crises in prisons, a recognition that the future is open, made by Joe Sim, 34 while David Scott proposes nine rather than already determined, and that new solutions ‘interlinked strategic objectives ’, including tackling to old problems, while not easy to come by are in inequality, fostering democratic engagement and principle possible to find, are the essential first steps.

32. Davis, A. (2003) Are Prisons Obsolete?. New York: Seven Stories Press, 16. 33. Ibid, 107. 34. See Sim, Punishment and Prisons above. 35. Scott, D. (2018) Against Imprisonment: An Anthology of Abolitionist Essays. Winchester: Waterside Press, 218ff. 36. Ruggiero, V. (2013) Penal Abolitionism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 9.

54 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 Reviews

Book Review sentencing laws and practices can mental health, trauma and conflict Start Here: A Road Map to be altered so as to reduce the use resolution. In sentencing, the Reducing Mass Incarceration of imprisonment. authors draw attention to the By Greg Berman and Julian Adler, importance of procedural justice, a Publisher: The New Press (2018) Berman and Adler describe term that is increasingly being ISBN: 978-1-62097-223-6 the development of mass used in UK prisons, on the basis (hardback) imprisonment in the US as not that where people consider they Price: £21.99 (hardback) only creating warehouses, but have been treated fairly they are ‘accelerants of human misery ’ more likely to respect the law, (p.4) that make existing social whether or not they get a problems worse. Their aim This book opens with some favourable outcome. There are a stark statistics about the American through this book and their number of examples of positive prison system: there are over two ongoing work at the Centre for sentencing practices that reduce million people in US prisons; the Court Innovation is to promote the use of pre-trial detention, and system costs $80bn annually, and; crime reduction and alternatives more imaginative community- the incarcerated population has to incarceration with the goal of based sentencing in drug courts. increased 500 per cent per cent demonstrating ‘that contrary to Even within the felon population, over the last 40 years. It has, conventional wisdom, it is the authors argue that effective nevertheless, been argued that possible to reduce both crime there is an opportunity for change and incarceration at the same community interventions can be as recent years have seen a time ’ (p.5). effective and they argue that: ‘We loosening of the grip of popular There are three key elements must give these programs the punitiveness. It has been argued to the approach that Berman and resources they need so that they that there are three primary Adler advocate: engage the public can create small group settings reasons for this .1 The first is that in preventing crime; treat all that allow for intensive work with there is a growing body of defendants with dignity and participants and encourage evidence that questions the respect, and; link people to individual accountability ’ (p.139). effectiveness of imprisonment and effective, community-based Introducing a shift in instead suggests that it may be interventions rather than jail or sentencing and penal policy is not harmful to society as a whole. prison. They suggest that such straightforward. The authors Second, declining rates of crime, reforms do not take place at the acknowledge that, ‘...it will particularly serious violent crime, federal level or rely upon the demand patience and across developed nations has actions of the president, but understanding from the media, meant that there is diminishing instead are enacted through local elected officials, and the general political capital from tough courts, judges and officials. public, who must have realistic rhetoric. Third, the financial crisis The majority of the book expectations about what of 2008 and the subsequent focusses on real initiatives taking alternatives to incarceration can economic crisis have meant that place across America that promote deliver in terms of results ’ (p.140). the approaches of the past are no a more progressive criminal justice While this comes across as an longer affordable. It is the in this system. Some of this will be understatement, the Centre for context that Greg Berman and familiar, such as the use of crime Court Innovation has been Julian Adler, leading figures in mapping to identify high crime engaged in this task over many New York’s Centre for Court areas and the development of years and has had some success. Innovation, have published a book preventative, grassroots services Readers in the UK, might be that offers practical ways in which including those dealing with tempted to speculate whether

1. Cullen, F., Jonson, C., and Stohr, M. (2013) The American prison: Imagining a different prison Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 55 such lessons could equally apply in system in England and Wales. to connect with their own this country. Recent Secretaries of These real-life examples illustrate suffering and can spark the State for Justice, including Michael that reducing the use of thought ‘if he can grow out of Gove, David Liddington and imprisonment is not only possible, that … then maybe I can too ’. Elizabeth Truss all stated that but also that it does not Gethin then declares ‘I will reducing the prison population undermine public safety and in introduce you to your Scrooge ’. was desirable, but wanted this to fact can ameliorate social harms. We find Scrooge is symbolic of the be achieved through incremental part of the mind fuelling life- and informed practice, including Dr Jamie Bennett, Governor of destroying addictions to: drugs, better community interventions, HMP Long Lartin alcohol, gambling, food, sex, etc rather than through a dramatic (p. 1). The Scrooge behaviours change in sentencing policy. ‘fear, disconnecting from others, Recent years have seen a decline close-mindedness, suppressing in the UK prison population from trauma, denial, head in the sand ’ its height of over 88,000 in 2011 Book Review are described as preventing to under 85,000. This has at Unconscious Incarceration: happiness (p. 9-16). The largely been the result of reduced How to break out, be free and programme on how to change criminal court cases being unlock your potential these behaviours is then processed, lower numbers of By Gethin Jones presented. remand and recalled prisoners, as Publisher: Dot Dot Dot Logo The absence of academic well as increased use of early (2018) jargon and the direct tone allow release under the home detention ISBN: 978-1-907282-86-7 this journey to feel accessible to curfew scheme. This modest but Price: £10.99 many. Complex theories are not to important change has therefore be found as the reader simply resulted from changing practice describes psychological concepts rather than policy. Gethin Jones presents a book of reflection. Like Scrooge, we are A more dramatic that proposes to change lives, able to meet Marley: the inner transformation has taken place in support the most vulnerable and voice saying ‘something must the youth criminal justice system. ‘bring people back from the gates change ’, connecting us to ‘harsh The number of children entering of hell ’(p.92), in 93 small pages of truths ’ and ‘love ’ (p. 18-21). He the criminal justice system for the clear and concise language. It brings the selflessness you need to first time has fallen 85 per cent in combines personal drug addiction undertake this journey. the decade to 2016-17, from and professional psychology Gethin’s aim is to facilitate 110,817 in 2007 to 16,541 in experience: alongside the readers to improve analytical 2017. Similarly, the average youth extended metaphor of A thinking, rational judgement and custody population has declined Christmas Carol by Charles emotional management. He asks from almost 2,914 in 2007 to 868 Dickens. The classic is effectively you to look back at your in 2017, a reduction of 70 per retold in an instructive self- experience and use this as cent. This quiet revolution has development style to help people hindsight. The character that does been supported by successive overcome addiction and negative this is named the ‘Cabbie ’. He is governments, albeit without thinking patterns. symbolic of the ‘Ghost of significant fanfare, informed by It starts with the chapter ‘The Christmas Past ’ in A Christmas Tale influential inquiries and reports, End Begins ’, which is a vivid (p. 27-36). The imagery of sitting and driven by practitioners in the account of a drug addict in dire in a chair self-reflecting ignites streets, police stations, local living conditions where emotions through the interweaved authorities, youth clubs and ‘desperation is the only thing anecdotes of a fictional ‘you ’ on a schools of local communities. driving your mind ’ (p. 5). The rehabilitative journey. After The argument of Berman and authenticity of the author’s learning from the past, Adler’s book is that change is hardship shown on the synopsis, ‘a visualisation techniques are used possible, indeed that change is childhood spent in the care- which encourage you to analyse happening in local jurisdictions system ’ and ‘years in prison’, your present realities with the across America. There are also allows trust to be developed in his character the ‘Tour Guide ’ (p. 37- examples internationally, not least programme. He has been ‘there ’ 46) then your future goes under of which is the youth justice himself. It gives readers a chance analysis with the ‘Time Traveller ’

56 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 (p. 47-56): both are easily especially current or former drug H.H.A. Hart and Joel Feinberg. understandable and relatable addicts, offenders and Throughout this book Hirsch concepts. professionals who provide services contrasts this ‘desert ’ view with From holding this mirror up for such individuals. This is an easy various instrumental (or and seeing the ugliness, as well as read that could also be useful for consequentialist) understandings the good, it is easy to imagine non-professionals whom are of punishment, such as feelings of emptiness and looking for ways to support deterrence, rehabilitation and loneliness with the daunting task friends and family. treatment. of change: ‘I can’t do this on my His argument is rooted in the own… no one cares ’ Scrooge Muzzaker Mathias , resident at movements of penal thinking in thinking ’. However, Gethin seems HMP Grendon the last 70 years, and benefits aware of this and shifts focus from from the fact that he has lived modern mind-set strategies to through the whole period. Desert practical tools. Because the thinking emerged in the 1970s as rehabilitative journey may be too a reaction to the previous strong difficult to complete alone, Book Review emphasis on sentencing for readers are introduced to the Deserved Criminal Sentences: rehabilitation or treatment. ‘Doing ‘Singing Nightingales ’: family, An Overview Justice ’ challenged this primarily friends, support services, people by Andreas von Hirsch on grounds of fairness: that, more who are there with honesty, Publisher: Hart Publishing (2017) or less broadly, similar offences compassion and empathy (p. 64). ISBN: 9781509902668 (hardback) should attract similar Gethin’s plea is for you to accept Price: £50.00 (hardback) punishments, rather than one the support that your Scrooge person being treated more harshly ignored. The ‘magic of the than another because of factors programme ’ is described as In this compact book not directly inhering in the offence disempowering the values and Professor von Hirsch summarises itself. Rehabilitative approaches to beliefs that feed Scrooge (p. 91). with great clarity the fruits of a sentencing returned to some The author’s hopeful voice main theme in his research and in extent during the period of high asks you (once you have gained his approach to questions of optimism about psychological and practiced this knowledge) to criminal justice. In a long and treatment programmes in the become a Singing Nightingale and distinguished career across three 1990s and beyond; but help the vulnerable in society who continents, since the publication increasingly, the ‘punitive turn ’, he refers to as ‘the hobblers ’. This of Doing Justice in 1976, he has what Hirsch calls ‘penal populism ’ brings the journey full circle for developed and refined an account carried the field, so that one to be more forgiving and of ‘desert ’ as the core principle for punishment simply became compassionate: ‘life now being a deciding what punishment should incrementally harsher, without blank canvas ’ ready to be painted be given to a particular person for reference to careful principles of colourfully (p. 84). a particular offence. proportionality and the like. To conclude, this book uses By ‘desert ’ he means that the Hirsch emphasises that modern mind-set techniques with severity of the punishment should ‘desert ’ is not the same as practical advice to help one create be proportionate to the retribution, in the sense of pay- a pro-social identity. Gethin could seriousness of the offence. He back, or making the offender capture readers further by being holds that punishment is ‘a suffer in order to balance up the more explicit of his own blaming institution ’ (p.4), and his damage they have caused to the experience of overcoming his theory of proportionality is based social fabric; nor is it a return to Scrooge. The thought provoking on seeing censure as the primary the ‘classical ’ understanding and memorable stories could have element in punishment. The typified by Bentham, which was been extended with more person committing the offence is based in deterrence. Rather, it is all descriptions of internal battles seen as a moral agent: ‘that is, as a about scales of proportionality. which Gethin faced for others to person capable of reflecting upon Some scholars have argued that link to on their journey of change. the appropriateness of [their] proportionality is a purely negative This book will be valuable to action ’ (p.12). This centrality of principle: i.e., that its only anyone looking for insight into censure arose from pre-1976 application is to limit the severity ways to break free from addiction: moral philosophers, notable of leniency of sentences, so that

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 57 they are not grossly out of kilter book; perhaps this does not fit that is compelling and well suited with the seriousness of the with the centrality of desert, but for these developments, looking at offence. Hirsch does not agree: he that in itself may raise questions what those at risk of offending, believes that the seriousness of an about the sufficiency of the desert prisoners and ex-prisoners can offence, and the severity of a principle. learn before, during and after punishment, can be measured and This is an unapologetically incarceration. Commentaries of compared by means of a calculus rigorous philosophical statement experience contest the view ‘a in terms of the impact on ‘living of Hirsch’s argument, proceeding leopard cannot change its spots ’ standard ’, as that concept was set through argument and rebuttal of with accounts of real prison out by Amartya Sen. The objections with great clarity and circumstances and scenarios. This possibility of such ranking is logic, in plain non-technical book digs deep into a range of experience but also pushes supported by developments in language, and engaging concisely beyond what is already in several jurisdictions, not least the with a huge range of scholars at scholarship conceptually and evolution of sentencing guidelines the same time as it sets everything qualitatively, through careful in England and Wales, which are in a clearly analysed historical selection of special contributors. based on an explicit concept of context. It is a major tour de force Life Beyond Crime makes an seriousness of the offence. which will mark an essential important note for readers of the The author does not claim starting-point for anyone who Prison Service Journal: that a comprehensive account of wants to take the understanding punishment can be given by of punishment forward from here, ‘Failure is pain but also desert. Firstly, he acknowledges and who hopes to match both the natural, universal and stimulating. ’ that proportionality between rigour and the realism of Professor (p.68) sentences does not yield any clear von Hirsch’s theory. A niche feature of this book is guidance on what actual the emphasis of co-formation. punishments are appropriate. He Martin Kettle, Associate Inspector Paul Crane, a practitioner and allows that different societies will with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate policy-maker, promotes the ‘anchor ’ the range of punishments of Prisons collaboration of multi-disciplines at different points, some harsher and external influences for the and some less so; but the principle ongoing development and of proportionality will still govern achievement of behaviour change the choice of punishment within within prisons. This specific the range that is set. Those exploration of co-formation offers Book Review familiar with adjudication tariffs in an exciting uncapped limit to Life Beyond Crime: What do prisons will recognise what he is plasticity of the mind and self, those at risk of offending, talking about. even in adult life. A notable prisoners and ex-offenders Secondly, he allows room for example is Norman Anderson’s need to learn? many other factors as long as they passage about his personal drug Edited by Paul Crane are subordinate to the essential addiction and subsequent 18-year principle of desert. So Publisher: Lemos and Crane prison sentence aged fifty-four. rehabilitation, the personal ISBN: 978-1-898001-77-5 His life turned around after he situation of the offender, (paperback) received a letter from a loved one deterrence, previous offences (he Price: £15.00 (Paperback) that began with, ‘we forgive you argues for a systematic mitigation daddy ’. Stressing the importance of punishment for first offences, of support systems, this for example), and ‘exceptional As I stop to pick up this book, contributor sought to bring forth departures ’ when a particular the front cover briefly gives away one of many reasons why crime wave hits a society, all find the style of text: criminological, education and self-reflection their place; in this way he is not at reflective and experiential of the before going to complete a degree all doctrinaire or inflexible. He also criminal justice system. A Life was critical for a transformation. has chapters on juvenile justice Beyond Crime as titled in this book In doing so, this book sets a scene and on non-custodial sentences, refers to a phenomenon that has for future extension on case though the latter receive far less sparked much debate across the studies. attention than incarceration. It is decades; that is whether offenders There are fifty-seven named striking also that restorative justice can be rehabilitated. Remarkably, contributors, each individually is not mentioned once in the Paul Crane has created a book tailored to one of three parts that

58 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 divide this text: Diversion and really need to learn before pessimism towards criminal Young People, Adults in Prison returning to the community ’ by behaviour change. It can be read and Returning to the Community. Parole Board member Tom Millest. in any order, yet still help to Whilst part one focuses on failed It is important to note that provide a clear and basic pre-court disposals, known as the without acknowledgement and introduction of criminal ‘first chances ’ before young appreciation for part two of this procedure, life in prison and people cross the line of desistance, book on Adults in Prison , we rehabilitation to all audiences. it is beneficial to look at what marginalize part three, Returning Moreover, moving between offenders can learn during to the Community . Rehabilitation different chapters can also make incarceration before it is truly too and Innovative Solutions it easy to build an important late. This introduces the most Enterprise (RISE) Prison Leader bigger picture; that is, moving ambitious part, Adults in Prison. Elaine Knibbs touches on self- beyond traditional procedural For a number of years I have harm and suicide rates in custody, understanding with critical contended that criminological ‘something clearly wrong within momentum that directly and research neglects the success of the prison system ’ (p.361), giving honestly underpins individual those that have turned their lives attention to trauma and low transformation. This book around. Nonetheless, this part fills resilience faced by prisoners upon achieves its aims of providing that void. Accounts of hands on release. What is learnt so far is enriched data evidence within experience within prisons have that education is not enough to practice and experience whilst we come not just from prisoners, but achieve full rehabilitation. On the are at a time where scholarship from staff, who are notably one hand, it provides the basics in cannot pre-empt empirical testing consistent in role and objectives order to survive in a competitive in such environments due to on a national basis. From this world, whereas on the other, it sample, the audience are invited provides only an impression of ethical issues. Certainly, Life to think from a range of how much less invested and Beyond Crime maintains perspectives of different identity, valued you are in society. This is a usefulness for a range of readers context and scale. Stand out striking concept to reveal and from those with an interest in chapters amongst all include ‘The provokes the question, how can criminology though to right to express yourself ’ by one learn to abide by the law if practitioners and prisoners, under anonymous ex-prisoner, ‘Thirty they do not know why it matters? all kinds of circumstances. years as a probation officer ’ by Liz Or even, why they matter? Dixon, ‘The things I wanted to say Overall, this book is Olivia Tickle, but didn’t ’ from an official prison enlightening, honest and hopeful Offender Management Unit at visitor through to ‘What prisoners as it challenges societal HMP Huntercombe

Issue 243 Prison Service Journal 59 60 Prison Service Journal Issue 243 ­ Contents PRISON SERVICE

Co-editors: Dr Anastasia Chamberlen OUR NAL 2 Editorial Comment J is Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, Is there a Prison Crisis? Charlotte Weinberg is Director of Safe Ground, and Anita Dockley is Research Dr Anastasia Chamberlen, Charlotte Weinberg, Director at the Howard League for Anita Dockley Purpose and editorial arrangements Penal Reform

Dr Anastasia Chamberlen 6 The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke Reflects The Prison Service Journal is a peer reviewed journal published by HM Prison Service of England and Wales. (interviewer) on Recent Problems in Prisons Its purpose is to promote discussion on issues related to the work of the Prison Service, the wider criminal justice Dr Anastasia Chamberlen system and associated fields. It aims to present reliable information and a range of views about these issues.

The editor is responsible for the style and content of each edition, and for managing production and the Dr Anastasia Chamberlen 13 Building up to today’s prison crisis: An Interview (interviewer) Journal’s budget. The editor is supported by an editorial board — a body of volunteers all of whom have worked with the former Chief Inspector of Prisons, for the Prison Service in various capacities. The editorial board considers all articles submitted and decides the out - Nick Hardwick Dr Anastasia Chamberlen line and composition of each edition, although the editor retains an over-riding discretion in deciding which arti - cles are published and their precise length and language.

Jason N. Smith is a Safe Ground 17 From poem into spoken word alumnus, spoken word artist and From May 2011 each edition is available electronically from the website of the Centre for Crime former prisoner Jason N. Smith and Justice Studies. This is available at http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/psj.html

Circulation of editions and submission of articles Fred is a student at Milton Keynes 20 Chaos and Conflict: The dog and the frying pan, College, HMP Ranby Fred Six editions of the Journal, printed at HMP Leyhill, are published each year with a circulation of approximately 6,500 per edition. The editor welcomes articles which should be up to c.4,000 words and submitted by email to [email protected] or as hard copy and on disk to Prison Service Journal , c/o Print Shop Manager, Kelly Roberts is an artist and guest 21 Scatter when they come HMP Leyhill, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12 8BT. All other correspondence may also be sent to the performer at Safe Ground’s A Matter of Life and Death event, September 2018 Kelly Roberts Editor at this address or to [email protected] .

Footnotes are preferred to endnotes, which must be kept to a minimum. All articles are subject to peer review and may be altered in accordance with house style. No payments are made for articles. Will Styles is Governor of HMP 22 A Crisis of Hope? Long Term Prisoners’ Experiences Whitemoor in Category A Environments Subscriptions Will Styles The Journal is distributed to every Prison Service establishment in England and Wales. Individual members of Dr Victoria Lavis is Director of The 29 Intersectionality and the Prison Crisis staff need not subscribe and can obtain free copies from their establishment. Subscriptions are invited from other Appreciative Partnership Dr Victoria Lavis individuals and bodies outside the Prison Service at the following rates, which include postage:

Editorial Board United Kingdom Paul Addicott Dr David Maguire Dr Amy Ludlow HMPPS University College, London University of Cambridge single copy £7.00 Dr Ruth Armstrong Dr Jamie Bennett (Editor) Professor Anne-Marie McAlinden University of Cambridge Queen’s University, Belfast one year’s subscription £40.00 (organisations or individuals in their professional capacity) Dr Rachel Bell Governor HMP Long Lartin Dr Ruth Mann HMP Send Paul Crossey (Deputy Editor) HMPPS £35.00 (private individuals) Alli Black HMP Huntercombe William Payne HMP Kirkham Dr Karen Harrison (Reviews Editor) Independent Maggie Bolger George Pugh Prison Service College, Newbold Revel University of Hull HMP Belmarsh Overseas Professor Alyson Brown Steve Hall Dr David Scott Edge Hill University Independent Open University single copy £10.00 Gareth Evans Professor Yvonne Jewkes Christopher Stacey Independent University of Bath Unlock one year’s subscription £50.00 (organisations or individuals in their professional capacity) Dr Ben Crewe Dr Helen Johnston Ray Taylor University of Cambridge University of Hull HMPPS £40.00 (private individuals) Dr Sacha Darke Dr Bill Davies Mike Wheatley University of Westminster Leeds Beckett University HMPPS Dr Michael Fiddler Martin Kettle Kim Workman University of Greenwich Church of England Rethinking Crime and Punishment, NZ Orders for subscriptions (and back copies which are charged at the single copy rate) should be sent with a Dr Kate Gooch Dr Victoria Knight Dr David Honeywell University of Bath De Montfort University University of Durham Dr Darren Woodward Monica Lloyd Jackson Joseph cheque made payable to ‘HM Prison Service’ to Prison Service Journal , c/o Print Shop Manager, HMP Leyhill, University Centre, Grimsby University of Birmingham HMP Leyhill Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12 8BT.

Prison Service Journal Issue 243 Issue 243 Prison Service Journal JOURPRISON SERVICE NAL PRISON SERVICE

This edition includes: JOUR NAL May 2019 No 243

Is there a Prison Crisis? Thinking creatively and dialogically about prison’s old and new problems, Co-editors: Anastasia Chamberlen, Charlotte Weinberg and Anita Dockley

The Chief Inspector of Prisons, Peter Clarke Reflects on Recent Problems in Prisons

Building up to today’s prison crisis: An Interview with the former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick

From Poem into Spoken Word Jason N. Smith

Chaos and Conflict: The dog and the frying pan Fred

Scatter When They Come Kelly Roberts

A Crisis of Hope? Long Term Prisoners’ Experiences in Category A Environments Will Styles

Intersectionality and the Prison Crisis Victoria Lavis

Crises of Selfhood and Expressions of Punishment: A conversation with Psychotherapist Susie Orbach

Feeding the Prison Crisis Through Hostile Criminalisation: The Case of Joint Enterprise Henrique Carvalho Special Edition:

Getting out of the Crisis The prison crisis Richard Garside