Suchergebnisse

What does a good prison look like? Over eleven million people are currently locked up in prisons across the world, but does that mean that prison actually works? The answer usually depends on what people believe and feel about crime, punishment and what happens inside prisons. The deep social and personal impact of prisons demands that we try to search for a better understanding of the evidence and ideas that have made prisons so ubiquitous. Hindpal Singh Bhui, with 20 years' experience of visiting and working in prisons worldwide, argues that we need to look at who is sent there and why, to disentangle reality from ideology and myth. Introducing the competing histories of prisons and allowing the voices of prisoners, prison staff and victims to be heard, he asks whether there is a better way to achieve what society wants from its prisons

This article explores the experiences of foreign national prisoners both before and after April 2006, when it was discovered that over 1000 had been released without first being considered for deportation by the Immigration and Nationality Department (IND).2 It is argued that negative representations of this group of prisoners have exaggerated the threat they pose to society, masked their individuality and encouraged unequal treatment within the prison and immigration systems. The article draws largely on interviews conducted during two major investigations by HM Inspectorate of Prisons. 3 A central consideration of the article is the impact of immigration problems on other issues such as resettlement, rates of self-harm and the experience of prisoners' families.