Prison System in England and Wales - Essay Example

Introduction The issues encompassing prison crisis in England and Wales have been a question of concern for long. Some regard this situation to be amatter of number of prisons and prisoners while some consider it to be concerned with the inefficiencies of the judicial and prison system. This paper investigates into the prison crisis in England and Wales and researches into the major causes corroborating the situation. Increasing the number of prisons in the region is often considered to be the best possible solution to this problem, however the efficiency of this sort of remedy could be best analysed once the underlying causes that crusade the prison crisis are figured out. Hence, the crux of this paper concerns the possible solution of prison crisis through the increase in number of prisons after analysing the major causes of the problem so as to examine the best possible solution of the problem in the truest sense. Prison Crisis In England And Wales Effective management of prisons is one of the greatest issues confronting any country in the world. Number of prisoners is increasing in all parts of the world exacerbating the crisis in the form of inefficient management, prisoner suicides, aggression, deteriorating hygienic condition and ineffective provision of educational facilities to prisoners. The condition in the prisons of England and Wales is no different; rather it is worse than many developed countries in the world and the most significant issue behind this crisis happens to be massive overcrowding in prisons soaring at a rapid rate. The prisons in England and Wales are severely overcrowded. According to Press Release (2002), the number of people in prisons exceeded 71,500 in 2002, which was about 45,800 in the year 1992. This reveals that the number of people in prison had almost doubled within a span of just 10 years, which in itself was a record. Within Western Europe, the rate of increase in the number of prisoners is the highest, which stood at 134 per 100,000 in the year 2002, and reached 141 per 100,000 in 2004 (National Offender Management Service, 2005). Prisons have no choice but to admit more and more people as court commands people to be incarcerated every day against different criminal charges. According to Page (2003), the number of women prisoners in 1992 was 1300, while it reached 4000 in the year 2002. It shows that the number of women in prisons has risen by about 3 times during a single decade. The number of children under the age of 18 has also increased three times over the last decade. Moreover, the number of old prisoners over the age of 60 in the year 1989 was 345, which after ten years rose to 1000. This is an alarming condition and if it continues in the same direction there is a threat that it will cripple the entire criminal justice system in England and Wales (Press Release, 2002). This menace is further exacerbated with expected rise in the number of prisoners in future. The government opines that the number of prisoners in UK will reach 100,000 by the year 2010 (Page, 2003). If this prediction becomes true, the situation and environment in prisons will further be worsened, as the system is not capable to bear pressure of soaring prison population to such an extent. With the increasing number of prisoners to be fitted in the same number of prisons and cells, the prisoners are being located in narrow cells that are not designed for two or three persons at the same time. The number of beds, toilets and other facilities intended for a single person are to be shared by more than one. According to a report by House of Lords/House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights (2004), this surging number of prisoners has caused massive overcrowding in prisons and about 17000 prisoners happen to have been accommodated two in a cell designed for one. National Offender Management Service (2005, p16) states that, "the ten most overcrowded prisons in England in 2004 accounted for 5,900 out of the 18,400 prisoners required to share a cell in crowded conditions". The report also states that due to this ever threatening overcrowding in prisons, the prisoners are being moved from one location to another away from their families aggravating their mental stress. This distance from families makes the offenders further distressed and concerned about their family members, and develops a feeling of solitude and social exclusion. Prisoners who are already forced to live in cells away from their loved ones, are further moved to locations distant from where their families dwell due to overcrowding. In case if a prisoner is relocated temporarily, he is forced to forego several informative and reconstructive courses as it is not possible for prison staff and trainers to provide it during short intervals. Bonner (1992, p.407) confirms this point as, "...incarceration may bring about added stressors, such as loss of outside relationships, conflicts within the institution, victimization, further legal frustration, physical and emotional breakdown, and a wide variety of other problems in living". This increase in the number of prisoners at such a rapid rate has led to severe prison crisis. The condition of prisoners is deteriorating consistently, which is leading to increased mental and physical problems among the prisoners. Living away from family and social circle in an inhuman condition makes the prisoners morally and mentally weak. Hence, they take steps that are dangerous to their lives in this feeble state of mind. The cases of suicides and self-affliction have also been increasing in the prisons of England and Wales. As the number of prisoners increases, the number of suicidal incidents also rises. Since 1996, about 550 prisoners hanged themselves to death. Only in the year 2002 alone, the number of suicides in prisons was 94 (Page, 2003). The report by House of Lords/House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights (2004) also points that although the rate of suicide is tumbling among general public, yet it is on rapid rise in prison population with an average of two prisoner suicides every week. As the prisons get overcrowded, it renders prison staff unable to provide equal educational facilities to all the prisoners at the same time. National Offender Management Service (2005, p28-29) mentions, "Overcrowding in prisons can disrupt activities like education There are limited opportunities for prisoners spending their entire sentence in a local prison to attend work or attend education classes". This inefficiency in providing equal opportunities for all the prisoners exacerbates their mental and moral condition. Instead of ameliorating the moral behaviour of offenders, imprisoning them with improper facilities worsens their situation. Carter (2003) propounds that one of the most significant factor underpinning the prison crisis due to over crowding is that the courts are becoming more and more inclined to send even the minor wrongdoers to jails for short and long span of time. The offenders committing minor crimes for the first time are also being sent to prisons for longer time period as compared to that several years ago. This stern behaviour of courts concerning crime is leading them to imprison people on even minor or first time trivial crimes. People are being sent to jails for petty issues that cause prisons to be overcrowded prison system to be inefficient. Apart from strong verdict on the part of courts concerning trivial offending behaviours, the judicial system is increasingly sending unconvicted offenders to prisons and having them await the court's sentence in prisons. Poole (2004) states that many people in the prisons spend long time in prisons awaiting trials or court's judgment. This particularly causes overcrowding in jails. Besides, shackling people for trivial offences and incarcerating them without court's conviction inculcate immoralities into the minds of people. Spending time in the state of despair with major offenders in overcrowded prisons especially in the case of juveniles provokes them to commit major crimes when they are released. Incarcerating people for minor crimes also impairs the social and individual lives of minor offenders. They are forced to stay away from their families with people who are major criminals. It has also been observed that people arrested and kept in custody for short time period in minor offences appear to be re-offending and committing major crimes in later parts of their lives. Solution For The Prison Crisis In England And Wales The above state of crisis in the prison system of England and Wales is in need of an agile solution so as to ameliorate the condition of prisoners in one of the developed regions of the world. Building more prisons appears to be the most relevant and effective solution to the current state of overcrowded prisons. By building more prisons in different areas of England and Wales, more prisoners can be accommodated and there will be much space for further influx of prisoners in future as anticipated. However, the solution doesn't lie only in providing enough space to the existing or future number of prisoners, it is about providing long lasting remedy to the prison crisis and alleviating inhuman conditions that are imposed to prisoners and offenders. The current prison crisis in England and Wales can be overcome by building more prisons to some extent in the short-run but the positive impact will not be long lasting. As a matter of fact, increasing the number of prisons in England and Wales will lead to enhanced space and cells for the same number of prisoners in the short run. However, as the number of prisoners continues to rise, these new prisons will too soon be overcrowded in the long run (Addressing Prison Overcrowding, 2003). Moreover, it is not the case that the number of prisons in England and Wales has not increased with the increase in number of prisoners. Government has opened several new prisons the last few decades. About 19 new prisons were opened during 10 years, however 15 of them remain to be overly crowded (Press Release, 2002). This indicates that opening new prisons does not render sufficient remedy to the problem of overcrowding in prisons or efficaciously deal with the current state of prison crisis. As soon as new prisons are opened, they become rapidly overcrowded and accommodation problem for new prisoners pop up. Hence, government has failed to cope with the problem of ever increasing number of offenders in prisons, which is not due to the increase in the number of criminals in the region but due to change in court's tendency of sending more and more people to prisons on minor and trivial offences for long period of time. In order to cope with the prison crisis, an identification of major problem underlying this crisis is crucial. The prison juncture in England and Wales needs in depth investigation into the real causes underlying the issue. Only then can the authorities be able to land up at a particular solution to this problem. According to a report, "the underlying causes of overcrowding are not usually a lack of prisons, but rather overburdened, inefficient judicial systems and poorly trained police, sending of vast numbers of people to prison for relatively petty, non-violent offences, and keeping prisoners on remand without proper oversight" Hence in the light of above analysis, it can be said that rather than increasing the number of prisons in England and Wales, the judicial system should reconsider its policies on incarceration and punishment of minor offences. The increasing threat of prison crisis perpetuated by prison overcrowding can be curtailed by making use of options other than incarceration and through effective utilisation of prison space (Addressing Prison Overcrowding, 2003). What is more important is to provide humane conditions to the prisoners that can build and restructure their mental and moral state of behaviour helping them turn into respectable citizens when they are released rather than become regular offenders. Conclusion This paper analysed the state of prison system crisis in England and Wales while investigating into the major issues aggravating the problem. What happens to be overcrowding in prisons is not the increase in crime rate, rather it is the ineffectiveness of judicial system in the region that is responsible of corroborating this crisis in the system. As more and more people are imprisoned for minor issues, the number of offenders increases as well as their willingness to commit major crimes. Building more prisons cannot prove to be a long lasting solution to the problem as prisons are bound to become overcrowded as soon as they are built, until the real issue beneath the problem is not identified and thus curtailed. The efficient use of available prison space and reconsideration of judiciary policies can serve to be a better solution instead. Reference List Addressing Prison Overcrowding: A Good Prison Management Resource Kit (2003), Penal Reform International, retrieved 13.08.06, from the World Wide Web: http://www.penalreform.org/download/ressource_kits/Kit%20I-C.6%20Addressing%20Prison%20Overcrowding%20(wkg)%20(KH)%2021-08-2003.pdf Bonner, R. and Rich, A. (1992), "Cognitive Vulnerability and Hopelessness Among Correctional Inmates: A State of Mind Model." Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 17(314): 113-122 Carter, P. (2003), Managing Offenders, Reducing Crime. London: Strategy Unit House of Lords and House of Commons Joint Committee on Human Rights (2004), Deaths in Custody: Third Report of Session 2004-5 Volume 1. London: The Stationery Office National Offender Management Service: Dealing With Increased Numbers In Custody (2005), Report By The Comptroller And Auditor General, 27 October, London: National Audit Office Page, N. (2003) "What You Really Need To Know About Criminal Justice", Rethinking Crime and Punishment, retrieved 13.08.06, from the World Wide Web: http://www.rethinking.org.uk/informed/pdf/need_to_know.pdf Poole, M. (2004), Occupation Of Prisons, Remand Centres, Young Offenders Institutes And Police Cells, England and Wales, London: Home Office Prison Watchdogs Warn Of Overcrowding Crisis (2002), Press Release, 18 September, Prison Reform Trust, retrieved 13.08.06, from the World Wide Web: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/news-prOvercrowding.html Read More