Irish Examiner View: Overwhelmed

The report of the prison chaplaincy service, now only available through Freedom of Information legislation, into what goes on behind prison walls offers a sobering perspective. File Picture

It seems reasonable to assume that the prison population, specifically in this instance, the female prison population, is a varied group. 

Some may regret the behaviour that brought them to prison. 

Others may be indifferent to the behaviour that led to their conviction and imprisonment. 

Some are settled in their ways and can be expected to re-offend. Others, an unknown percentage, might avail of the opportunities a term in prison offers to learn the intended lesson. 

Or at least that must be the hope as prison must be about more than punishment if it is to have a positive impact in a person's life.

The report of the prison chaplaincy service, now only available through Freedom of Information legislation, into what goes on behind prison walls offers a sobering perspective. 

It speaks of institutionalised over-crowding, abusive situations and curtailed periods outside a cell. 

These all make a positive outcome more unlikely, a fate made all but inevitable by decades of underinvestment.

As ever, you only get what you pay for.