Bishop's letters: November 04 +James JUSTICE THAT RESTORES

Ronnie Barker has always been one of my favourite comedians and, in my view, his starring role in the classic sitcom ‘Porridge’ deserves its frequent repeats on television. So I was intrigued to discover that Haverigg Prison (near Millom) was allegedly the model for the programme.


If so, things have certainly changed. Instead of dark, old-fashioned cells, many of the prisoners now have their own well-lit rooms. The food is well-cooked, and the prison officers kind and humane. No wonder some people argue that we are ‘too soft’ on crime and those who commit it. We all know that it costs far more to keep someone in prison than at Eton.

But, of course, that is only a fraction of the story. The theme for this year’s ‘Prison Week’ (21-27 November) is ‘Justice that Restores’, and a major debate on ‘Restorative Justice’ is currently taking place in both Church and State. The basic argument is simple. At present, the focus of our penal system is blame and punishment. From a Christian point of view, should it not be redemption and restoration?

Anyone who has ever been in prison or worked in prison or even visited a person knows just how difficult that is to achieve. I haven’t ever worked in a prison; but I have visited several (including Haverigg) and, while at University, I spent an instructive ‘exchange’ week in Borstal – as an inmate. (“When I was in Borstal” usually catches people’s attention at the beginning of a sermon!) While there, I began to realise why the ‘re-offending’ rate is so high; and, incidentally, had to turn down two serious offers of involvement in major robberies that were being planned!

However, the search for new and effective methods of dealing with offenders is now firmly on the agenda. Examples include not only community service, but also a new scheme which causes the perpetrators of crime to meet up with their victims and face the consequences of their actions.

Unfortunately, overcrowding in prisons frequently frustrates programmes which might bring about change, and a booklet called ‘Rethinking Sentencing’ (commissioned by the Church of England’s Mission and Public Affairs Council) calls for a fundamental reassessment of the sentencing process. For instance, last year 40% of all women imprisoned were sent down for shoplifting, and a further 30% for drug offences. Overall, the number of females in prison has trebled over the last decade.

As Timothy Gorringe remarks in a recent book called ‘Crime’, “soaring prison numbers in the face of the proved failure of prisons to either deter or rehabilitate indicates that the real reason for imprisonment is retribution. These record numbers (76,000 – up from 42,000 in 1991) are a high-water mark of the punitiveness of our societies, a marker, in fact, of their scapegoating tendencies”.

There are no easy answers to all this, as our politicians are well aware. But Prisons Week challenges all of us to think about the issues and pray for the Churches Criminal Justice Forum, which is at the forefront of moves towards policy change. God cares about the prisoner as well as the victim - and so should we.

(Prayer Cards available from: The Secretary, Prisons Week, PO Box 2733, Lichfield, WS13 6GZ. Ten for £1)

James Newcome