Women's Prisons, Bail Hostels and Probation
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Library.Anarhija.Net Bang Up and Smash Women’s Prisons, Bail Hostels and Probation ASBO ASBO Bang Up and Smash Women’s Prisons, Bail Hostels and Probation 16.09.2017 prisonabolition.org Bang-up and Smash: Women’s Prisons, Bail Hostels and Probation, ASBO. First printing: 2017, Active Distribution. Cover © Enki Bilal, Sacha. Printed in Croatia by Sto Citas - stocitas.org. Copyleft: download, distribute, discuss, dismiss. For more information contact the author: [email protected]. If you are reading this in prison please ask someone outside to email your postal details. lib.anarhija.net 16.09.2017 Contents Acknowledgmenets ..................... 5 Content Warning ....................... 5 Aims ............................. 5 Introduction ......................... 6 Disclaimer .......................... 16 Part One: Inside 26 Reception/Induction 27 Gender Issues in Women’s Prisons 46 Introduction ......................... 46 Family Life .......................... 55 Trans and Gender Queer Prisoners . 62 Sexuality ........................... 68 Race, Racism and Intersectional Opression 74 Racism ............................ 74 Foreign National Prisoners (FNPs) . 84 Travellers ........................... 90 Manufacturing Obedience (Or Trying To) 96 Screws and Staff ....................... 96 Discipline . 102 Rehabilitation? . 122 Work ............................. 124 2 Education . 131 Psychology and Prison . 134 Reform ............................ 144 Long-Term Prisoners . 146 Everyday Life 157 Physical Health and Impairments . 157 Ageing Population . 165 Religion ............................ 171 Drugs ............................. 172 Jail Mail ............................ 189 Visits ............................. 196 Canteen ............................ 204 Legal 207 Bigger Cages, Longer Chains? Tag, Open and ROTL 216 Protection? 222 Last Few Weeks 224 Solidarity 228 Part Two: On Road 230 Realease 231 Practical Information 234 Licence 244 Recall ............................. 251 Approved Premises (AP) ‘Bail Hostels’ . 257 Probation Notes . 277 3 Psychological . 281 Tick - To borrow drugs or tobacco Coming Home . 288 TOB - Tackling Offending Behaviour Conclusions . 290 Transformative Justice - Community approach to alleged Appendices . 292 “crimes” (similar to ‘Restorative Justice’, see definition earlier in Resources/Bibliography . 306 glossary), but using a more systemic critique and analysis of fac- Glossary . 321 tors involved in so-called “social exclusion”. This process does not necessarily involve the alleged ‘victim’. VDT - Voluntary Drug Testing VO - Visiting Order Volumetric Control - Way for the prison to control the amount of belongings you have “in possession” (i.e. in your cell). Must have fit into two standard prison issue boxes at any one time. ViSOR - Central store for information about MAPPA cases, accessed by the the police, prison service (both public and the contracted-out estate) and probation. VPU - Vulnerable Prisoners Unit WFI – Women for Independence (Scottish reform charity) WIP - Women in Prison charity (UK wide reformist charity) Window warrior - Someone who anonymously shouts insults out the windows after the cell doors are shut 4 325 PPO - Prison and Probation Ombudsman Acknowledgmenets PSI - Prison Service Instruction (legal issues relating to all aspects of prison life) To everyone who has supported me this last while. You know PI - Probation Instruction who you are. PIPES - Psychologically Planned Environments (residential pro- Thank you to PM Press and Active Distribution for help with pub- gramme in prison) lishing, and to Lee Jackson and Just Seeds for some of the images. PSO - Prison Service Order Prop - Your property (either in possession or ‘stored prop’) This book is dedicated to all those resisting and rejecting author- PSR - Pre-Sentence Report ity, inside and out. The money from this project is for you. Remand - When you are awaiting sentencing or charge and have “There is violence been denied bail in the slow wilt of these stems; Restorative Justice - Process by which the alleged ‘victims’ and in the warp and seethe of the skyline and in the ragged gait of ‘offenders’ of a ‘crime’ mediate together to reach agreement onthe wire-thin animals issues surrounding the event which is satisfactory to the wider com- that meet your eyes in the city at night.” munity. Kelly Rose Pflug-Back, Stone ROTL - Release on Temporary Licence RRA - Race Relations Act Content Warning SAR - Subject Access Request Seg - Segregation unit This publication contains content that may be distressing or trig- Shank - Homemade knife gering. There are references throughout to physical violence, sex- Shipped out - To be moved from one prison to another ual assault, sexual abuse (including paedophilia), and drug/alcohol Shit ‘n’ a shave - A brief sentence use. It also includes several examples of discriminatory language, Screw - Prison Officer suicide and self-harm. SDO - Supervision Default Order All attempts have been made to make legal references as accurate SO - Senior Officer as possible. Spends - Money available in your account (‘public’ is what you can spend on canteen, ‘private’ is your total balance) Spin - Cell search Aims Stretch - Sentence (“I got a ten stretch”) Sweatbox - Prison van If these sound grandiose, I do not apologise. If they sound unre- TC - Therapeutic Community (residential programme in prison) alistic, it is only because our dreams have been so downtrodden by Tear up - A fight those who seek to control us, both inside and outside our cages. TERS - The Early Release Scheme In no particular order… Thee Stripe - High ranking screw 324 5 To provide people facing a custodial sentence (and those sup- JR - Judges Remand porting them) with ideas for dealing with everyday prison life in JSA – Job Seekers Allowance women’s prisons in the UK, by combining anarchist literature, prac- Judicial Review - Legal challenge of a decision made by a public tical examples and case studies from jail, and prison-related support body on the grounds that the decision was unlawful. organisations. Kanga - Rhyming slang for a prison officer (screw – kangaroo – To highlight gender issues in relation to the range of texts that kanga) already exist about the UK prison system, and to critically analyse MAPPA - Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangement feminist arguments around women’s prisons. MBU - Mother and Baby Unit To show the many ways in which the prison industrial complex MDT - Mandatory Drug Testing (PIC) is both dependent on, and perpetuates, discrimination and Meds - Medicine, medication or the medical hatch multiple forms of oppression. MRSP - My Solution Rehabilitation Programme (used by Kent To give an overview of the concept of social exclusion, whilst CRC) critiquing organisations which promote ‘inclusion’ as an antidote NACRO - National Association for the Care and Resettlement of to the PIC. Offenders To discredit concepts such as reform and rehabilitation, and to NFI - Not For Issue expose them for the dangerous façades that they are. Nicking - Adjudication (“To be given a nicking” or “nicking sheet” To use anecdotal evidence and first-hand examples of the vio- -adjudication paperwork) lence of the prison regime and ‘criminal justice system’ (CJS). NPR - National Prison Radio To problematise the idea of prison abolition and highlight it’s NPS - National Probation Service limitations from an anarchist perspective. NPS - New Psychoactive Substances To show how the frameworks, institutions and technologies used NOMS - National Offender Management System for discipline and control extend far beyond prison walls and create OASys - Offender Assessment System the ‘prison society’. O/Ls - Letters the prison pays the postage. Each prisoner should get issued two second class letters per week, normally distributed by night staff on a Sunday. Foreign National Prisoners should get Introduction an overseas letter too. OMU - Offender Management Unit “She lives in a mansion of aching hearts, she’s one of a restless OM - Offender Manager throng.” Roddie Doyle1 ORA - Offender Rehabilitation Act Prison is designed to control, to oppress, to separate and alienate. OS - Offender Supervisor However, even in “a mansion of aching hearts” there are ways to Pad mate - Cell mate keep your head held high. It’s easy to fixate on the moment you will Pelly, pad, peter (or yard) - Your cell PO - Prison Officer 1 Doyle, A Star Called Henry 1999 POCA - Proceeds of Crime Act 6 323 CRD - Conditional Release Date leave jail and walk through the gate, but there are many possibilities CSC - Close Supervision Centre for rebellion and solidarity along the way. As Albert Libertad said: DBS - Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly the CRB – Crim- “Those that envision the goal from the first steps, those thatwant inal Records Board) the certitude of reaching it before walking, never arrive”2. DIRF - Discrimination Incident Reporting Form “We do not want the pardon of the state, we only desire its de- Dipping - Stealing struction” Monica Caballero and Francisco Solar3 Dog ends - Cigarette butts This is a practical guide, though for obvious security reasons DPDU - Dangerous Personality Disorder Unit some things are best left unsaid. You can find them out inside. Prison EPP - Extended Public Protection Sentence is messy. Relentless. Just like critique and analysis, it is ongoing and Escape - Don’t even mention this word for a joke painful. But it is not omnipotent. EA - Equalities Act “What would you have us do with criminals then?” I asked