In response to Dr Drew Gray’s letter on prisons (15 August), I don’t think what he’s saying is groundbreaking. In it, he asks “Do we actually want to reform criminals, or just lock them away so we don’t have to confront the causes of their offending?” Unfortunately the answer has historically been, and is very much still, the latter. Society has a habit of shying away from looking too deeply into the reasons behind criminality. Attitudes to people in prison are usually shaped by the mainstream media’s narrative. As Jung said, “Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.”
Dr Gray isn’t the only person to believe that prison doesn’t work for the majority. But I wonder how he expects these changes to be made. Instigating any positive change from within is close to impossible. The excuse always given is that “it’s a security issue”. I was a nurse. I could only be kind, listen and do my job and even then I was fighting against a tide of judgment and apathy from colleagues. Personally I am not entirely convinced prisons were worse 200 years ago.
