Prison+system+in+the+UK

The Prison system in the UK for England and Wales is run by Her Majesty’s Prison service. The Scottish Prison Service runs Scotland and Northern Ireland is run by their own prison service. All these prison systems work to the goal of making the prisoners into law-abiding citizens in order for them to lead a useful life upon t heir release. [1]
 * Prison System in the UK **

Michael Spurr is the current administrator of the prison system and works for the National Offender Management Service. The prison service operates around 130 prisons and has a staff around 44,000. In 2014 there were 85,428 prisoners with 81,429 males. [1]
 * Organization **

The average cost for building a new prison can run at 119,000 pounds and the average cost of each prisoner is more than 40,000 pounds a year. These costs account for 2.5% of the GDP. Although these costs can run high, it is estimated that the intervention of the prison system can save “Between £17,500 and £203,000 per offender” in victim costs. [2]
 * Costs **



The UK has the highest prison rates in Western Europe with 148 prisoners per 100,000. Currently they are working on plans to increase the prisons and have an estimated imprisonment rate of 166 per 100,000. These increases are coming from changes in policy. Some of these changes involve increased sentence severity and more of recall into custody. With these changes and the increase in the prison systems that they have caused, the UK ruled that judges could take into account the amount of resources a sentence would require when there is a choice of penalty and the sentence does not impact public safety. Recently though it has become a concern that the cutting of costs in the prisons could lead to unsafe conditions. [2]
 * Policies **

One of the main goals of the prison system in the UK is rehabilitation for the prisoners. To achieve this goal, they seek too gain an understanding of offenders needs on an individual basis. Addressing these needs will make it easier to offer them the type of rehabilitation they need. The desistance process is the main way that they are aiming to rehabilitate prisoners. Secondary desistance aims at changing the people’s perception of themselves to see themselves as a non-offender. A few other types of rehabilitation are: > Social rehabilitation: the re-development of social identity/social acceptance; informal re-integration into the community. In order to assess the needs of the prisoners they are labeled as low, medium, and high-risk offenders. Although this label does not necessarily have a link to what type of rehabilitation they need, when combined with other factors like their social and moral needs it can be easier to find an appropriate form. [4]
 * Rehabilitation **
 * Personal rehabilitation: the re-development of the self; capacity building to support individual change and development of potential.
 * Judicial rehabilitation: formal end of punishment; removal of the ‘criminal’ label; requalification as a citizen.
 * Moral rehabilitation: reparation/redress involving the offender, victim, community and state; restoration of good character, good community and good government.

When prisoners enter into the prison system they undergo an interview to understand the prison rules, their rights and they are given a number. They are ranked on how likely they are to escape and the risk of them causing harm to others and are placed into a location based on that. P risoners are able to earn incentives such as family visits or being able to spend more money. If a prisoner breaks the rules they are either held in their cell for a longer period of time or given extra time onto their sentence depending on the severity of the offense. Prisoner’s rights include safety and healthcare.
 * Prison Life /Education and Work **

While in prison, the prisoners have the chance to take courses to improve their reading, writing, and their basic skills. They are also able to learn skill such as woodworking, engineering, or gardening. If they have useful skills they can use these to work and get paid. Some jobs involve kitchen, laundry, making clothes, or electrics. [5]


 * Reference:**


 * 1. [|UK Justice]**


 * 2. [|Benefits and Costs of Prison in the UK]**


 * 3. [|Prisoner Privileges and Rights]**


 * 4. [|What does Good Look like?]**


 * 5. [|Life in Prison]**


 * Additional Resources**


 * [|UK Crime, Justice and the Law]**


 * [|Working for Her Majesty's Prison Service]**


 * [|Her Majesty's Prison Service of England and Wales]**