The austerity script- Scarcity a step towards violence
I was shocked when I heard about how hard it can be for prisoners to have access to something as simple as toilet paper, a necessity in modern life. Over the last year and a half, we have all had a glimpse at what it’s like to have some of our resources limited. If you were one of the few people that never had to experience walking into a supermarket and seeing aisles emptied of vital goods like toilet paper, then you are pretty lucky. During the Covid-19 pandemic, panic buying was in and calm, cool, reasoning was out. You just need to google “toilet paper coronavirus” to see the level of chaos that ensued.
Resource limitations have played a role in the history of violence. If we are aware of the tendency of resource scarcity to create social tensions, then why are we not addressing this issue, especially in the places where creating an effective social environment is key? Instead, we are seemingly writing resource restrictions into the script. What world do we want to live in? Are we setting up a world where we can productively get on, progress and live in harmony? OR are we fostering hate, violence and inflexibility? With the introduction of mega prisons, how do these resource limitations play out on a mass scale?
I am not saying the answers are easy, I was surprised to hear about the numerous ways to make a shiv (knife) out of toilet paper BUT should we not be monitoring the social balances in these environments in order to make the use of shivs becomes redundant, instead of creating social tensions through toilet paper currency and debts that possibly enhance the desire to be using shivs in the first place? A hand can be a violent tool too, but we are long past the mediaeval punishment of chopping hands-off as a means to stop violence, it’s time to stop demonising the instrument and get to the root of the behaviour.
The lack of resources within prisons is an issue that affects both prison staff and prisoners. During our tech in prison event, we heard from one of our audience members Jen Dempsey, who spoke of the stresses the prison officers face when they are unable to meet the basic needs of prisoners due to restrictions placed on them. Scarcity of our vital resources can cause major issues to our ability to be effective social creatures.
The article linked here shows that there is clearly a lack of understanding of the importance of resources in areas regarding social care. We underpay and overwork the people we task with looking after our most vulnerable and in need of good social role models. With prison funding cuts people are paying with their lives, as shown in this article.
There is not a cheap or quick fix to rehabilitation, if we want to have effective systems of change then we need to invest in making spaces that help the people inside them to develop.
Norway has been a leader in progressive policy and action in the criminal justice system. They have not only managed to create a system that benefits society but benefits the economy. Showing full proof of concept that spending more per prisoner can actually mean more economic gain. In a research paper published in 2019, they showed that there were 2 main reasons for the benefits economically of the Norwegian prison system. First, reducing reoffending meant more individuals contributing to the economy. Secondly, among the prison population, that was unemployed before being arrested, there was a 40% increase in employment post-release. Norway's prison system shows a model for others to follow, it is not about how much we spend in prisons to reduce costs to the government and increase positive outcomes but how that money is spent. These prisons are accepting, caring and empathetic, a path created for producing fine citizens that support their country's economy. Find article here for more info.
It is easy to forget how slowly things develop in the prison system. In many cities across the UK, we watch as technology becomes integrated into every facet of our daily lived experience. Tracking buses on our phones, ordering fast food on touch screen interfaces, ads displayed on electronic billboards; not to mention social advances, adding pronouns into our emails, more awareness of wellbeing, inclusion and bias testing and training. But in the UK it was only in recent news that they started to speak about the negative consequences of shouting at inmates. The criminal justice system is a world we seem to be leaving behind and forgetting in the pursuit of change and development.
There are big gaps in the literature in this area. In order to understand the full implications of these resource restrictions, more work needs to be done to show the social strains caused by this. Though, it is clear to see that, in practice, a focus on creating a more nurturing environment for prison leavers does lead to better outcomes for the individual and for the society as a whole, economically and in the achievement of less crime.
A big part of becoming leaders in social policy is following functional blueprints that have already been made; we need to look to places like Norway who are successfully carrying out criminal justice policy and build on this, that is exactly what we are trying to achieve at Breakthrough.
Citations
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/01/social-workers-lack-time-resources-to-do-job
https://borgenproject.org/norways-prison-system/
