Prison figures - Denied hope

A LARGE prison population is a challenging expression of social failure. Commiting offenders to prison is also how society asserts itself over those who break its rules.

There must always be an element of punishment but a prison system that does not offer some prospect of a new life, some prospect of redemption, is more an expression of a failing society than social failure.

The news that nearly 10% of those held in our jails are in “restricted” regimes — they are confined to cells for up to 23 hours a day — hardly suggests the opportunity to make a new life has reached these individuals. The Department of Justice’s confirmation that we have 212 prisoners under the age of 21 and that 47 of those are aged 18 or younger is hardly cheering news either.