Any mention of RSA gets me thinking about school days and typing exams for the girls while us blokes were doing stuff like GCE 'O' level Technical Drawing. I've never really given much thought to the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce since, until today that is. Now with the strap line 'Ideas and actions for a 21st century enlightenment' this august body, somewhat surprisingly, wants to build a prison?
I think most of us are familiar with the notion of think tanks writing reports and coming up with bright ideas as to how society can be improved. But here we have something altogether different - not just some novel ideas for improving the rehabilitative nature of prisons, but a plan to actually build or acquire one and operate it along very particular and different lines.
As far as I can see the hypothesis is one centred on full-time, social enterprise employment for all prisoners, with remuneration at not less than the statutory minimum wage. The prison would be located alongside what is termed a 'transition park' which would be home to many and varied social enterprises offering a range of employment opportunities, together with some temporary housing. The aim would be to involve prisoners in the management of the whole enterprise and incentivize them to remain offence free. It's being likened to a 'John Lewis' type shared-ownership ideal.
Having got up to speed with the RSA's track record with regard to initiatives like The Clink prison training kitchen and restaurant, together with drug projects and school curriculum development, they strike me as being a body who's time may well have come. They seem to me to be peculiarly well-placed to be able to offer something significantly better than just more private prisons run by mega corporations as envisaged by Ken Clarke. This is a story worth following and should give us all cause for hope. There is an article in today's Guardian.
Hi
ReplyDeleteThe Clink isn't that great
You can visit only if you are: a member of a charity, work for the government or are a member of the prison service (for security reasons)
What you can't do is simply book and turn up it seems which doesn't make it very restaurantlike, I'd wonder if they were falling foul of any discrimination laws with that policy too...
All of these ideas seem to involve a compliant and cooperative prisoner population. Whilst the ideas are sound, I can't see them transferring to the more recalcitrant or challenging inmates. The tv documentary on The Clink showed us how difficult some of these offenders can be when they are just a little uncooperative. I can't see how anyone can make a legitimate business out of a workforce that is unmotivated, unskilled and potentially volatile.
ReplyDeleteInteresting Guardian article by Zoe Williams that you linked. As a probation officer seconded in to work in a private sector run prison, alot of what she says about poorly trained, poorly paid, unmotivated operational staff on the wings rings true. I've discovered that the private sector are experts at cherry picking compliant offenders for their flagship intitiaves, ones that won't answer back or say anything off message when the local MP or the man from the ministry come visiting (and they visit far more often than in the public sector prisons or probation offices that I've worked in over the years). The rest of their prisoners (i.e. the more 'difficult' ones who are much more likely to reoffend)are warehoused until they can get shot of them, kept quiet with sky sports and playstations so they can reduce staff numbers and save costs. Welcome to the rehabilitation revolution...
ReplyDelete"I can't see how anyone can make a legitimate business out of a workforce that is unmotivated, unskilled and potentially volatile".
ReplyDeleteNOMS did ;)
Apologies Rob, you said 'legitimate'.
ReplyDeleteI thought there was a 'il' at the beginning :)