Effective prison

Effective prison

1. Ideologies and purpose of prison

   • Retribution: prison is punitive
   • Utilitarianism: prison should produce changes that reduce the risk of recidivism
   • Humanitarianism: prison should be the rehabilitation of casualties of social deprivation and victimisation

2. Models for the treatment of prisoners vary with the presumed origins of crime. For example, if one believes that there are too many rewards for crime and too little punishment, then the appropriate treatment for prisoners may be harsh and severe in order to make prison a deterrent to reoffending.

3. Prisoners are a population at risk. This includes the risk of violence from other prisoners, though prison homicides are relatively infrequent.

4. Evidence suggests that prison increases the risk of prisoners committing suicide. However, prisoners (largely young males) tend to be a high-risk group for suicide in the general community. The period spent in prison before trial is associated with the greatest risk of suicide and is higher then than during any other time spent in prison.

5. There is substantial evidence that prison and other forms of sentence have some, if limited, effectiveness in terms of criteria such as the reduction of recidivism. Educational programmes for prisoners within prison seem to be the most effective aspect of the prison experience in this regard.

6. 'Nothing works' was a dominant view of prison until relatively recently. Increasingly, it is accepted that a lot of the work done within the prison service pays off in terms of reducing future reoffending.

   • In recent years, there have been consistent attempts to provide effective treatment programmes to prisoners.
     • Cognitive behavioural therapies are commonly used by psychologists in prisons for the treatment of various sorts of offender, especially sex offenders such as paedophiles and rapists and violent offenders.
       • These are multi-faceted strategies based on group work to provide knowledge and insight into the offending process.