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The Chasm To Be Bridged
In a fit of wickedness I have joined the forums over on prisonofficer.org.uk, where prison staff feel content to bitch and moan more than the average bunch of miscontent Lifers. I thought – you nevr know – that it may be possible that they and I may possibly learn from each other.
So far it has been a profoundly depressing experience. I appreciate that staff have little conception of the lives that prisoners lead, or of the pains of imprisonment. But the gap in perceptions is truly mindboggling in its width.
Prison staff are the people cons see the most of. they control, in various ways, the quality of every cons daily life. Their attitudes and outlook are crucial in effecting the future course and decisions that prisoners make.
Faced with indifferent staff who radiate an attitude of contempt, who believe that prison is akin to Butlins, it follows that the effect staff have on the attitudes of cons is likely to be negative.
If staff are regarded as being a virus that spreads the Daily Mail mentality – coupled with the Daily Star intelligence – then the hope that prison can be anything more than human warehousing is dead in the water.
Ben Gunn is “one of Britain’s best known
prisoners…he constantly questions authority and exposes the futility
of the system” The Times. Pleading guilty to the murder of a friend when
he was 14 years old, Ben has since renounced violence and consistently
fought for the recognition of the inherent dignity of all human beings.
As a result of speaking truth to power, Ben has served far longer than
the recommended 10 years, leading Education Secretary Michael Gove to
argue that Ben “has been punished excessively for a crime committed as a
child”, and Lord Ramsbotham to state that “It is expensive and
unnecessary to keep Ben Gunn in prison”.
2012-09-08 09:07:17
Source: http://prisonerben.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-chasm-to-be-bridged.html
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