'Prison System in Crisis?\r'

'The term crisis refers to an intense time of geniusrousy, anesthetize or danger, or a time when difficult decisions must be made. However, in the context of the prison house house house house house house house house formation, it has to be tinted at differently. This can be seen end-to-end the es severalize in how there have been generation of danger, and difficult policy decisions made. In looking at whether these fusss atomic number 18 important to the prison form, it has to be looked at whether it is hindering the purposes and objectives of prison. It is excessively worth noning that the prison placement has been regarded in universe in crisis for many geezerhood by the media and academics (Cavadino & amp; Dignan, 2007).\r\nThus it would appear the `crisis’ hasn’t been at genius specific time its been bit by bit building course of instruction after year. The purpose of prison in straight off’s society is to airiness prisoners in a secure and safe facility, where they go away be treated humanely, de centimely, and lawfully. This is as hale as protecting the public, ensuring the prisoner is punished for the crimes committed, as good as also helping them rehabilitate themselves. These aims argon issued by the National Offender Management dish turn up (NOMS).\r\nThe way in which NOMS ar adapted to do this is by their close relationship with the probation service, accumulation of statistics and also the setting of key exercise indicators. Key performance indicators can be gulls such as reoffending reckon going down by 10% from the former year, no category A escapes, drug injure rates and percentage of prisoners in overcrowded trying on (Leech, 2009). The gathering of altogether this information itemor that officials can flat monitor the performance of prisons and see if they argon fulfilling their functions.\r\nIf they atomic number 18 non then it is reason fitting-bodied to elicit that the prison is in crisis and needs to address the issues, which are create the problems. In identifying whether there is a crisis in the prison arrangement, different thoughts of criminology offer different explanations. unmatchable poster that explains the crisis is the Orthodox. This account bespeaks that the crisis consists of many different components which all spike to combine to a crisis (Tredwell, 2006). It also suggests that the crisis itself is non one of the whole penal system however one just inside the prison system itself (Cavadino & Dignan, 2007).\r\nThe first factor that orthodox criminologists address is the loading the community of prisons have on the system. Through bring bring out the history of the prison system in crabbed the twentieth century it can be seen that the prison creation has been steadily rising. For example in 1960 the fair(a) prison population was 26,198, in 1990 43,378, compare this to 2011 which was 81,763(Berman, 2012:18). As this testify shows, through with(predicate) out the twentieth and xx first century the prison population has been rising. This enlarges the take away on prisons and prison mental faculty to be able to deal with the gamyer numbers.\r\nThis is a major problem for the prison system if the trend is not altered, it give keep on increasing year by year as the evidence suggests. This problem instanter carry ons on to fact that prisons are overcrowded. Overcrowding in prisons tally to orthodox account makes it some(prenominal) harder for prisons to be able to meet their purpose of rehabilitating offenders. Overcrowding takes place ‘when the number of prisoners held exceeds the establishments certain Normal Accommodation (CNA)’ (Berman 2012:11). CNA ‘represents the good, decent standard of accommodation the service aspires to provide all prisoners.\r\nAny places in a advanceder place the CNA are referred to as overcrowding places’ (Jewkes & Bennett, 20 08:38). In England and Wales in 2012 over sixty two per cent of the prison e allege was overcrowded according to CNA statistics (Berman, 2012: 11). Looking at this, in relation to the aims of having humane conditions for prisoners to live in, the prison system is not meeting its targets. prisons shouldn’t be overcrowded, but the volume are meaning that to a greater extent prisoners are sharing cells then what is intended. In relation to renewal it is win to see the higher number in prison the slight resources will be getable for prisoners.\r\nThe little(prenominal) resources available to prisoners will mean less time spent on individual cases passing the chances of success in reformation. High Prison population and Overcrowding also lead on to the fact that there will be problems within the prison concerning staff. One of the problems in hurt of staff will be the numbers available. With the increasing numbers, and the reductions in the prison budget, inwardness the s taff to prisoner ratio will plow to worsen. With this performer that the supervision of prisoners will be less available which will deoxidize time out of cells and time in classes working towards reclamation.\r\nThis also leads on to some other problem within staff in prisons, in equipment casualty of their relation with the home office. The more prisoners glide path into prisons increases the workload for the staff, this is without the relief of additional staff being employed. Staff unrest can lead to industrial action, which will lead to the breakdown of the prison service. The final factors that need considering in this account is the sum all of the above has on the protective covering in prisons. Prisoners breaking out of prison are seen as causing massive problems.\r\nThis is relatively non-existent in prisons now, since 1995/1996 there has been no escape from prisons (NOMS annual storey 2011: 5). This means that in terms of protecting the public with the high pris on population and no escapes the prison system is operating very efficiently. Another aspect that has to be looked at here is the fact of security inside prison. Riots are let off present, as seen last year in the Ford open prison riots. This would suggest that in some instances prisons are not real capable of controlling their prisoners.\r\nRiots are seen piss evidence of a crisis in prison but riots are very rare in the prison system. From all of this recountd above it is clear that the orthodox account, is still very relevant in todays prison society. In particular is the issue of high prison population leading to increased overcrowding levels. Which in 2012 are at an all time high. However one ontogenesis to this theory comes from Lord Woolf who agreed with orthodox accounts of security and control being crucial to a lasting prison system, throw also placed vastness on jurist. evaluator refers to the obligation of the Prison assistant to treat prisoners with humanity an d fairness and to prepare them for their deteriorate to the community in a way which makes it less likely that they will reoffend’ (Woolf 1991: para 9. 20). This quote coming from Woolf’s report in 1992 can be seen still to be extremely relevant today, when looked at the prison systems aims and purposes, as mentioned earlier in the essay. This makes Woolf’s recommendation crucial to looking at what the state of the prison system is in today.\r\nIn terms of conditions there are said to be three elements, which captivate the quality of life for prisoners. The first being the wretchedness of the physical accommodation, the second being the regimen the prisoners are subject to on a free-and-easy basis. The final one being the difficulty prisoners await in maintaining relationships with family and friends whilst inside (Cavadino & Dignan: 2007). In looking at the physical accommodation of prisoners in today’s society the view is that prison is much l ike a ‘ spend camp’ for prisoners. He said he would make sure jails †dubbed ‘ spend camps’ by critics †are no longer seen as places which convicts ‘enjoy’ (Gayling, cited in The institutionalise, 2012). This quote supports the view that rail line to mainstay in 1992 prisons are now at a state where they could be said to be to nice for prisoners. This results in the fact that prisoners become to homelike with prison life that once they leave, going back to prison seems very attractive to them. This would suggest that the prison system is weakness to do one of its more traditional roles of deterring prisoners from crime.\r\nTherefore it is failing in another(prenominal) one of its purposes adding to the evidence that the prison system is not working. The second component of arbitrator in prison is preparing the prisoner for life back in the community. This is tackling what put them in there for the first place through replenishme nt. This is done through various programmes such as, offender behaviour programmes, drug addiction programmes, alcohol, work ingest and educational programmes. In addressing this essay question, one of the important goals in prison today is rehabilitation of offenders.\r\nIf rehabilitation was working then the rates of re-offending should be low. In 2010 around 170,000 offenders committed a proven re-offence within a year, providing a re-offending rate of 26. 7 per cent (Ministry of Justice, 2012). This statistic shows that in society right now a significant amount of the prison population do re-offend. Relating this to purpose of prison today it is clear that it is failing in rehabilitating offenders. Strengthening the belief that the prison system is in crisis. This essay has addressed the purposes of prison today and how they match up to accounts of what a crisis is by criminologists.\r\nIt is clear using the orthodox account and Lord Woolf that the prison is in crisis. The pri son population is at a record high, as are overcrowding levels as well as re-offending rates. This all suggests that the prison system is unable to match their purposes, and fulfil their aims in modern prisons systems, so it is in a state of crisis. However, to just say it is the prison system that is a in a state of crisis would be a very take approach to the issue. One crucial aspect to look at when examining the prison system is penal policy, and about importantly would be sentencing policy.\r\nSentencing can be seen as a fundamental component of the prisons system. The sentences given out by judges in the courts will influence the prison population as well as determining how long the prisoner will be in there. One of the major problems through sentencing, is the fact that the sentences are unjust or to short. In terms of duration of sentences the average custodial sentence as of 2012, is 14. 8 months (Ministry of Justice, 2012). This statistic shows that the average prisoner will scarcely spend a relatively short breaker point of time, which leaves the question as to whether this enough time for rehabilitation to take place. It concluded that 60% of short-sentenced prisoners commit another crime within a year of get out’ (Cooney, 2010. ). This quote is evidence that for short-term offenders the majority will reoffend. Therefor this leads to the conclusion that prison does not work for them, thus meaning the resources spent on them would be better for long-term prisoners. The fact that the prison population is increasing through this policy means that already scarce resources for rehabilitation are befitting even scarcer.\r\nThis is having a huge impact on the prison system in being able to rehabilitate offenders, to reducing reoffending rates. ‘A recent report from the National Audit Office (NAO) confirms what many battalion knew already †short sentences just do not work’ (ibid). This sums up the point that the sentencing p olicy is not working and needs to be changed, which could result with the problems in the prison system being reduced. However this doesn’t appear to be likely to be changing in the future day with the new secretary of state for justice Chris Gayling. Am I planning to reduce the number of prison places? No Im not. I do not want to set a target to reduce the prison population. ’ (Gayling, cited in Telegraph, 2012. ) This quote shows that future policy will only strengthen to increase the prison population not reduce it. In conclusion to this essay it is clear from the evidence collected in this essay that the prison system is in state where there are huge problems within. The high prison population, overcrowding levels and lack of rehabilitation highlights this the most.\r\nHowever since looking at the data gathered it is clear that these are issues that have not just affected the prison system in today’s society. This could suggest that if its always been pla gued by problems that, in reality its not in crisis its just ‘business like common’. Despite this, relating back to the definition previously mentioned it is clear that the system is in crisis because of the intense difficulties it is facing. All of this could be argued that it is down to penal policy rather than the prison system, which as mentioned is contributing significantly to the difficulties.References Used\r\n* Berman, G. (2012) `Prison population statistics’. Library: House of Commons.\r\n* Cavadino, M. and Dignan, J. (2007) The Penal dust: An Introduction 4th edition, London: SAGE Publications Ltd.\r\n* Cooney, F, insidetime (April, 2010) ` unmindful sentences are not the answer’ (Internet) Available at: http://www.insidetime.org/articleview.asp?a=720;c=short_sentences_are_not_the_answer , Accessed: 28/11/12.\r\n* Jewkes, Y. and Bennet, J. (2008) mental lexicon of Prisons and Punishment, Devon: Willan Publishing.\r\n* Leech, M. (2009) The Priso ns Handbook 2009 11th edition, Manchester: Prisons.Org.Uk Ltd. * Ministry of Justice (2012) `Criminal justice statistics’ (Internet) Available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/criminal-justice/criminal-justice-statistics, Accessed: 28/11/12.\r\n* Ministry of Justice (2012) `National Offender Management Service yearly Report 2010/2011: Management Information Ammendum.’ Available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/statistics/prison-probation/prison-probation-performance-stats/noms-annual-report-2010-11-addendum.pdf, Accessed: 20/11/12\r\n* Ministry of Justice (2012) `proven re-offending’ (Internet) Available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/statistics/reoffending/proven-re-offending, Accessed: 27/11/12.\r\n* Slack, J. and Chapman, J. Mail Online (2012) ‘I’ll stop our jails being like holiday camps, says new minister of justice.’ (Internet) Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/ intelligence/article-2205824/Ill-stop-jails-like-holid ay-camps-says-new-minister-justice.html?ITO=1490, Accesed:30/11/12\r\n* The Telegraph. (2012) `Prisons should be tougher for criminals, justice secretary Chris Gayling warns.’ Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9554533/Prison-should-be-tougher-for-criminals-Justice-Secretary-Chris-Grayling-warns.html, Accessed: 30/11/12.\r\n* Treadwell, J. (2006) Criminology, London: SAGE Publications Ltd.\r\n* Woolf, H. and Tumin, S. (1991) Prison Disturbances April 1990, Cm 1456. London: HMSO.\r\nNote: Received a 2:1 for this work\r\n'