I have been to see a play, or, rather, a series of very heart-rending but also entertainng, monologues by 5 members of the amateur South London Theatre Group in West Norwood.
It is called "5 Women" and highlights the fact that the system does nothing to help the prisoners out of their drug or other addiction back towards a productive life in society. Poverty, childhood neglect, finding no other way of living beyond petty thieving, finally the wearing-down of the individual so that being in jail is the most pleasant place for them to be, all this points up the uselessness of the prison system when it is heavy-handed on people who start off by being only weak and unsupported and end up knowing no other way of making a living.
It was interesting to find in the theatre a booklet published by an organisation called "Women in Prison" whose founder, Chris Tchaikovsky, has written:
"Taking the most hurt people out of society and punishing them in order to teach them how to live within society is, at best, futile. Whatever else a prisoner knows, she knows everything there is to know about punishment because that is exactly what she has grown up with. Whether it is childhood sexual abuse, indifference, neglect; punishment is most familiar to her."
If prisons are not fit for purpose and yet very expensive to run, isn't this the moment to look for alternatives?
"Women in Prison" has plenty of suggestions.
This blog is a plea for common sense in public policy. Our leaders don't seem to have any. They just make daft rules for us to follow. We need to assert our right to use our own good sense instead of ticking boxes which can only say 'yes' or 'no'.
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