Human Rights and Prisons - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

That „therapunitive‟ prisons remain dominated by an ethos of security
and control. This perverts the other functions, including therapy, that
are claimed for prisons. For instance, an anger management
programme will be less likely to succeed if prisoners are continually
frustrated or intimidated (Liebling, 2004). Similarly, prisoners who are
removed from treatment programmes or reintegration assistance as a
consequence of security or control needs (such as lockdowns or
transfers to ease overcrowding) may well withdraw their support to
future treatment attempts.
Despite the rehabilitative aims and functions of the corrections system,
empirical evidence shows that imprisonment generally does not have a
positive relationship with rehabilitation. In the wake of systematic reviews, it is
clear that offenders are more likely to reoffend following imprisonment than
with any other form of punishment (Lipsey and Cullen, 2007). Offenders
receiving prison sentences are, at best, likely to exhibit a „modest…recidivism
reduction‟ but, at worst, „increased recidivism‟ (ibid:314). Such findings raise
broader questions regarding the expectations placed on prisons to rehabilitate
offenders, and the role and use of imprisonment to achieve this purpose.
Moreover, any positive impacts on recidivism can be undermined by lack of
funding, inadequate staffing levels or overcrowding (ibid; Crawley, 2004).
A somewhat contradictory situation arises whereby prisons are required and
expected to assist prisoners‟ rehabilitation; yet the nature of imprisonment
itself poses significant challenges to the successful rehabilitation of offenders.
This raises questions about what imprisonment can be expected to achieve,
and whether prisons, or other social insitutions, are best placed to provide
effective rehabilitation.
5.3 Work and Training
Law and policy framework
Section 66 of the Corrections Act details that all prisoners may be employed in
work (with the exception of those awaiting trial, on remand or detained under
Immigration conditions, who may be employed if they request to be). Work
should provide the prisoner with work experience, or assist their rehabilitation
or community reintegration. It is also intended to offset establishment costs
(for instance, by providing labour to keep the prison clean).
No prisoner should work more than 40 hours per week, across six days per
week. Prisoners should not work on days that conflict with their religious
beliefs or practices (s81). The International Labour Organisation details that
prisoners should not be forcibly hired at the disposal of private companies or
ventures.
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