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Life and Ministry
By "A Prisoner"
The following article was written by someone currently serving a sentence in one of Her Majesty’s prisons. We publish it because it gives a flavour of life on the inside. It is followed by an article written by a prison chaplain.
I was sick and you took care of me,
in prison and you visited me (Matthew 25.36)
As I write, the prison population in the United Kingdom is fast approaching 80,000 - an all time record and a figure unrivalled by any of our European neighbours. This is a fact which ought to concern us all. Others would rightly point out that other statistics should concern us, such as the increasing rate at which prisoners re-offend after release, or the sense among many people that crime is on the increase, despite official figures which strongly suggest that crime is in fact reducing.
The law and order debate will naturally evoke deep passions. What seems to be increasingly evident, however, is the way in which the debate is becoming even more polarised than it already was. The 2005 General Election was a case in point. Readers may recall that, while the Conservatives were proposing to build yet more prisons and lock more people up and for longer (by abolishing the Labour Government’s Early Release Scheme), the Liberal Democrats were proposing to end the mandatory life sentence for murder while giving all prisoners the vote. No party political point needs to be made here; only the observation that, in an increasingly polarised debate, it is becoming harder to hear the quiet voice of reason. When was the last time one heard a really imaginative and thought-provoking discussion of our penal system?
One does not wish, however, to go over old ground here. The emphasis has perhaps rightly shifted in recent years towards greater consideration of the victims of crime. Moreover, no-one is doubting the necessity of prison. Some people need to be punished by removing their liberty, or have to be removed from society in order to protect the public. However, Jesus’ words of Matthew 25 reflect the Lord’s love for all, including prisoners.
So what is the experience of the ‘average prisoner’? What is the reality of prison, and how hoes our penal system care for prisoners in practice? Perhaps, as one of the nearly 80,000 inmates detained ‘at Her Majesty’s pleasure’, I might offer some insights.
Of course, any personal experience is by nature highly individual. Each inmate will have a slightly different story to tell and will deal with life in prison in their own way. Each inmate will also have had their own preconceptions and expectations of prison before entering this closed and secretive world. But each inmate will also speak from a unique perspective. If St Paul, for example, were asked to comment on the conditions inside HMP Philippi, one wouldn’t expect him to reel off a long list of complaints about the food, the sleeping arrangements, visiting hours, the amount of time allowed out of your cell mixing with fellow prisoners, the prison décor or the attitude of some of the prison officers!
There is, however, much to be said for voicing very real concerns on behalf of others. It should always be borne in mind that the prison population comprises an extremely diverse group of individuals, not an homogenous group. Inmates range from the most hardened and dangerous convicted criminals to people on remand, to some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Most are guilty, some are innocent, but all have their own specific issues and problems. Contrary to what I recently heard a prison officer declare, not all inmates should be thoughtlessly tarred with the same brush. Forget the stereotype of the ‘prisoner’ - he or she does not exist.
So what is prison like? To start, the first month is awful, no matter how mentally prepared one may be. Prisoners have to adapt quickly to the culture shock which confronts them. One notices immediately that, as well as saying goodbye to your freedom, things like personal space, privacy and a certain degree of dignity become things of the past. Some find it harder than others to come to terms with the fact that their life is no longer their own, and many basic choices we used to make from day to day are withdrawn from us. One also loses one’s appellation. Instead one has to get used to being addressed by surname only. If one’s presence is required for, say, a legal visit, one hears one’s surname being bellowed across the wing by an officer in the fashion of some latter-day Latin master calling an unruly pupil from the playground.
Prison is, of course, a different world, as perhaps it should be in a number of ways. However, as one slowly acclimatises to the new surroundings and one’s new existence as a prisoner, one is able to appreciate the plight of fellow inmates in particular, and the pervading sense of inefficiency within the prison system. If we were only able to develop a more efficient and enlightened system, there would surely be no need to treat some of the most vulnerable people by locking them up for 21 hours a day without thinking about what we were doing. But that is what we do - the elderly, the mentally ill, the physically handicapped - some of whom pose no threat to anyone at all.
Many of the prisoners suffer from varying states of anxiety, stress, boredom and morally destructive inactivity, made much worse by the extraordinary lengths of ‘bang-up’ (being locked in a cell). Coupled with this is the unforgiveable lack of genuinely purposeful activities, training schemes and apprenticeships which is surely a far better use of time and resources from which prisoners and society would benefit. To emphasise the general malaise within our prison system, I have witnessed how prisoners on release are sometimes dealt with, namely a two minute interview with the Resettlements Officer in order to prepare them for life ‘on the out’. Inadequate scarcely begins to describe it!
The most disturbing aspect of prison life, however, relates to a subject which, although shocking, still seems to struggle to grate with anyone’s collective conscience other than penal reform groups. I refer to the alarming rate of suicide within our prisons. Even more shocking is the unpublished rate of attempted suicides (if this statistic is even officially monitored), and the degree of self-harm among inmates. The prison system is, of course, aware of these problems, and has employed various strategies in order to combat suicide. However, let us examine the core reasons why some people feel so desperate.
It’s a truism that any large organisation which is under-funded and under-staffed is bound to experience problems. Many of the staff who work in the prison system are hard-working, professional people doing a difficult and challenging job. Perversely enough, perhaps we ought not to look within our penal system to find fault, but look towards society in general, and our attitude as a society towards prisons. Penal reform is surely the least glamorous of any cause in public life today, and one of the lowest priorities of any government. However, it seems that it is the area which requires the greatest imagination. Nothing less than a complete sea-change is required in order to bring the British penal system out of the nineteenth century and into the twenty-first. Victorian prison buildings are too often matched by Victorian prison thinking. For too long our prisons, and the way we ‘do’ prison, have stagnated, and been left way behind our more progressive and imaginative Scandinavian and Canadian friends, from whom we have much to learn.
Bernard Arnold
Minister of Trinity Methodist Church, Chelmsford,
and Free Church Chaplain of Chelmsford Prison
During my ministry I have had the privilege of being a part-time chaplain in Her Majesty’s Prisons for a total of thirteen years. There is no doubt that prisons are not nice places, and the idea expressed by some that they are like holiday camps is far from the truth.
Prisons are odd places in many ways. First, they have to satisfy the general public that a criminal is paying for the crimes committed, and the more serious the crime, the more the person should suffer. On the other hand there is a school of thought, which I adhere to, that prisoners should come to prison for the opportunity of reformation. It seems to me illogical to lock a prisoner up for months on end without any possibility of reformation.
Sadly, it was during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher that the reforming agencies were downgraded, as the new law stated that the main reason for putting a person into prison was for incarceration, to keep the ‘criminal’ out of normal society for a period of time. Overnight the role of the chaplain was downgraded and, ever since, it has been a constant battle to do the proper work of the chaplaincy in meeting prisoners, especially on a one-to-one basis. Thankfully, that battle is being won, and once again the chaplain is able to be the minister to the whole prison. This is largely due to the present government’s policy of wanting to bring reforming agencies back into prisons.
The question then should be explored as to why we put someone in prison, the ultimate sanction in our society. The ‘why’ is often the least explored question because we have always taken if for granted that we use the sanction of prison for criminal acts. The fact that the prison population rises annually is assumed, and does not come very high in our voting intentions. Aren’t the police and judiciary doing their jobs?
Desmond Tutu, in a paper on Restoring Justice, wrote that:
“a criminal offence has caused a breach in relationship and the purpose of the penal process is to heal the breach, to restore good relationships and redress the balance.”
While we have not gone as far as to confront the perpetrator of the crime with the victim, we can use the time in prison to address such issues.
So the ‘why’ send someone to prison, in my opinion, is the important question Christians must address. I suspect that the answer to this is threefold. First, we put someone in prison as a form of punishment and, at the same time, remove him or her from society. Second, prison can act as a place where prisoners can have some form of training so that, when they leave, they will have some form of qualification to take with them for employment. Third, this is also an opportunity for a prisoner to think about changing his or her lifestyle. This is especially important for those suffering from drug or alcohol addiction. In this area, I believe that it is important for the chaplaincy team to bring the forgiving love of Jesus to prisoners so that they can not only understand what it means to be forgiven, but also to forgive themselves.
Let us explore these three areas further and see what is being done in the prison service today and then respond to the important question from a Christian perspective, as to why we send people to prison.
The first reason for sending a person to prison is to pay for the crime he or she has committed. Whether prison is a suitable response to the crime is questionable, but for more serious crimes it certainly is. There is no doubt that society needs vindicating for what has been done. Sometimes it is hard to judge what a serious crime is. For example, taking and driving away a car may seem a small crime, but the car becomes a weapon which can kill or maim. Is that any less serious than someone who kills out of passion or deliberately? Society decides that both need a prison sentence. This prison sentence means that prisoners are deprived of their freedom for a period of time, or in rare cases for the rest of their lives. Being deprived of their freedom does not mean that they should be deprived of a proper standard of living. Therefore prisoners should be looked after, and the European Court of Human Rights sees to this. It should also be the Christian response to see that a prisoner is treated justly.
The second reason for putting a person into prison is to offer some form of training. In the prison where I am part-time chaplain all manner of training possibilities exist. These include such things as education, computer training, carpentry, hairdressing, artwork and music. There are also jobs available in the various workshops where a prisoner can earn money. I realise that many of these jobs are repetitive, but some have a compassionate end in view where prisoners refurbish old wheelchairs which are sent out, via a charity, to the developing countries. Many of the prisoners value this work and the workshop has a number of photographs on display of the wheelchairs being received by their end users. No prisoner is forced to work or attend educational classes, but most choose to do so. Prisoners can receive certificates to show that they are proficient in particular skills. However, these certificates have to be earned. Incidentally, they do not have the prison’s name on the certificate, only the educational establishment giving the certificate.
Third, the opportunity for the prisoner to change his or her lifestyle is for me the most important. There are a number of agencies (voluntary or employed by the prison service) who work with prisoners trying to help them overcome some of their problems. This includes drug or alcohol addiction, or even the desire to escape from a criminal background. Perhaps it may be necessary to change the prisoner’s abode when he or she leaves prison, to help them start again away from their old haunts. Tremendous support is needed with aftercare.
The work of the chaplain is, I believe, vital for the life of the prison as he or she is chaplain to the whole of the prison, not just the prisoners. The role includes meeting new prisoners and trying to get to know them. It also includes visiting those prisoners who are being punished or who are sick. The chaplaincy has a particular concern for vulnerable prisoners and also runs Bible studies, Alpha groups and something called ‘Open Door’ which allows prisoners to discuss their lives and how they got into prison.
With the chaplaincy team there is absolute confidentiality. We believe that prisoners have to trust the chaplains and this trust has to be earned. Our role includes standing beside prisoners when they receive bad news, and sometimes we have to be responsible for breaking that bad news. There is also a responsibility for praying with prisoners, often at the drop of a hat, in the middle of a busy workshop. Of course the chaplain is responsible for services whether they are Muslim prayers by the Imam or Mass on Saturday and the rest on Sunday. They can be lively affairs and well worth while. In our case, the chapel is usually full for services.
Does this all sound ideal? Of course it does, and life in prison is never as ideal as that. We are dealing with human beings who are no different to those outside of the prison. Often being a chaplain can be hard work with small rewards, but one person desiring to change his or her life and receive Christ is a great joy. The parable of the lost sheep certainly has resonance for me.
Why send a person to prison? Perhaps we cannot go as far as Tutu suggested, yet if society desires to send someone to prison purely to lock them away as a form of vindication, then that serves no useful purpose other than that. If however, the sending of a person to prison, which after all is a serious sanction, is for the purpose of reformation, then I feel that we are travelling in the right direction. Of course we cannot expect people from difficult backgrounds to change just because they are locked up, but at least we can try. If prisoners can leave prison with a hope of a better life by going straight, then I believe that we are not just satisfying society, but that we are also doing God’s will.
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