Friday, August 12, 2011

Shepton and Erlestoke

Although both Shepton and Erlestoke both hold prisoners that have a Category C rating - i.e. those who can't be bothered escaping - the populations are very different.  Management views them as being a nearly separate species.

Shepton is an all Lifer nick.  Lifers tend to be older, with shorter criminal histories and  - a crucial factor - having a vested interest in the prison community.  After all, if you have to live in a place for several years then you tend to pay more attention to the nature of the conditions and regime.  There is a broad outlook that favours a quiet life.

Erlestoke has a varied population, with a wide range in sentences and ages.  Short termers predominate, and those who are merely passing through an institution have little interest in its condition or regime.  Why should they care if they will be on the street in a few months?

Management, face with such a problem, can choose between two broad strategies.  They can either make particular efforts at community building, or they can opt for even tighter control measures.

The latter always carries the risk of undermining the very "good order" that it hopes to engender.  Only very ignorant managers don't appreciate this risk.

So Erlestoke has chosen that option.  Never even bothering to attempt to build a functioning community, management choose to fall back on the lazy and risky option of control.


5 comments:

  1. Good observation Ben.

    In the outside world, thanks to ZanuLabour and the Marxist-Feminist culture-fuck, the moral-relativism in all aspects of life, have robbed the populace of any sense of vested interest in their 'life-skills'.

    If all win prizes, then what's a prize worth? If quota filling employment is more important than merit, then what is aspiration for? If men and women are forced to be equal, then what was evolution about, and what becomes of the function of heterosexual marriage? And if women are ALWAYS the victim, whilst men are ALWAYS the perpetrators, then what is the value of our own eyes?

    Therefore, we on the outside, are told what to believe, what to say, and what not to do; thus we risk losing our vested interest in life itself, by the redundancy of our humanity.

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  2. Slavering about, Jimmy?

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  3. Is it me ?? Crime is never dealt with in this country properly .. think Jamie Bulger and the poor family....loss of s child unforgivable no matter what the age of of the killer

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    1. What do you call "dealt with properly"? And have I ever asked forgiveness?

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