Herod the Babysitter

Search the news archives under "prison riots" and the word "Strangeways" will surely appear. Strangeways prison was the Alpha and Omega of the wave of unrest which almost brought the British prison system to total collapse just over 20 years ago. The ramifications of these riots were deep and profoundly shape the topology of power and control in today's prisons.


The analysis of these riots, the Wolff Inquiry, had the unique attribute of actually asking prisoners why the riots occurred. Although flawed, the resulting Wolff Report attributed the rioting to a basic lack of perceived fairness within the system. Punishment is one thing; arbitrary abuse and contempt is quite another.

Those were strange days indeed. A Tory Home Secretary even declared that "prisons are an expensive way of making bad people worse". Out of this maelstrom came an official effort to bolster the perceptions of legitimacy, that central pillar of any power-relationship that hopes for longevity.


One of the concrete manifestations of this was a complete overhaul of the way in which prisoners could complain about aspects of their treatment or conditions. After all, men whose concerns are seemingly taken seriously are less likely to adopt more robust methods of expressing their dissatisfaction.

At the pinnacle of this system was the creation of an independent Ombudsman, an office outside of the control of the prison service who had the ability to adjudicate upon complaints. The government of the day promptly attempted to limit the likelihood of the Ombudsman disturbing the status quo by appointing a retired naval Admiral to the position - assuming that such an Establishment insider would be unlikely to lead a charge in favour of better treatment for prisoners. Alas for the State, Admiral Woodhead became a highly respected Ombudsman who had no qualms in sticking it to the prison service when he felt it necessary.

Two decades on and the position of the Ombudsman is far less luminary. The Ombudsman himself spent a chunk of his career working for the prison service he is now tasked to hold to account. Many of his staff also worked for the prison service, although the Ombudsman flatly refuses to say what percentage have this unfortunate employment heritage.

Deficits in legitimacy, the appearance of fairness, are a crucial factor in maintaining basic order within prisons. That was the lesson learned from the riots, and an independent channel to deal with complaints was one part of the response. And yet, twenty years later, these lessons have been forgotten to the extent that the Ombudsman and his staff have such deep links with the prison service as to undermine any faith that prisoners may have in that office.

And when the voiceless realise that they are mute there is the risk that they will express themselves in other, more physical ways. The Government’s efforts to render the views of prisoners as irrelevant for short term ease contains within it the seeds of the next generation of prisoners who may look upwards to the roof as a platform for dissent.