Prison life choice?

exactly, not answered where his parents are?
surely this is their problem,

Unfortunately your brother's repeated incarcerations will mean he has been exposed to the hardened criminals and the drug pushers - they have no compunction about threatening others to do their dirty work. Extracting oneself from this mire is very very hard indeed, especially as it has been going on for years. Please be aware of the dangers of his possible associates - you do not want to bring this misery down on your family. Once they have you in their clutches you are pretty sunk, as it seems your brother is.

I am all for compassion - but compassion with your eyes open.

And all those without compassion. It can happen to any of us. Mental health breakdowns that are psychotic are often dealt with in the criminal justice system, desperation to feed or house yourself leads to poor decisions, trauma responses, addiction. The list is long and if you are not on it then be thankful because it's rare that it's some kind of moral fibre that keeps people on the straight and narrow, it's usually circumstances.

There's actually only a small percentage of the prison population who are hardened criminals that need to be locked up for years. The vast majority have come through the care system and are institutionalised with no support once it dumps them at 18, are from toxic family backgrounds with extreme trauma, have addiction issues or mental health issues or can not get off the revolving door situation of doing time then having no way of getting work or housing and having to stay doing crime. The cycle can be broken but it's hard. You have to be very sure he wants to. If he is not committed then don't get involved. If he is, then look for charities that can help along with all the statutory agencies. Charities help with housing and employment.
Don't get invested without him really wanting to change.

I have experience of this excellent scheme. Sadly it did not work out for my relative as he did not have the cognitive skills to engage fully. I think it is quite localised too.

It depends where the OP is, there are places where a bed sit can be had for not very much.

I live SE and bedsits are similar price to nice house shares. I don't know what benefits people are entitled to. House shares also normal require deposits and guarantees where as bedsits don't and often run/subsided by charities/churches.

https://key4life.org.uk/programme-overview/
Could these people help, OP?

Sorry if someone has already mentioned it, but can he see if there's a Prison Employment Lead (PEL) at the prison he's at? They will be able to help him look for work if so. The system is shocking though. If he's in and out I assume he's being held for his recall sentences at a cat B reception prison? Frustratingly there are a lot of situations where we start working with men and then they get early release before we've had a chance to get everything in place. it's a constant battle.

How will he afford a bedsit?
My son is 28, works full time and has to rent in a shared home because on his full time earnings the estate agents say he can't afford a bedsit or 1 bed flat.

It was a tongue in cheek comment not an actual statistic, sorry if my sarcasm wasn't clear there, I forget at times that tone doesn't convey well on the internet.

98%? - that is very precise. Source of these statistics?

98% of them are innocent..... They were stitched up/wrongly accused/will be out on appeal soon.

Why do you ask?

If you have a sofa, offer that to him. He repeats the cycle because its all he knows and tbh being in prison he’s getting shelter, food and drink plus hot showers. Its a horrible life to lead. If you could offer him some support this time around with strict boundaries then there might just be a chance. Ultimately its up to him to change his life around. I have a local homeless shelter in my city which helps support hundreds each year go from the street into accommodation and sometimes a job.

It's always someone else's fault why these 'poor souls' end up in prison!

Always!

OP, I can understand that you're incredibly concerned about your nephew and want to support him but what are his immediate family doing to help & support him? What do his parents do/say? Why are they not offering him their sofa? Did he have good friendship when growing up? Is he close to his parents / siblings? Understanding his homelike & growing up might help to understand his incentives more. You seem to have evaded those types of questions. Maybe he finds the reality of life & having to work hard to achieve something 'normal' too much like hard work. As well as the system needing to help him, he has got to help himself too and realise these things aren't just served up on a plate.

You probably sleep in a bed in a house with heating and electric light. You probably don't have an addiction.

We should be moving towards the Norwegian model.

www.kriminalomsorgen.no/informasjon-paa-engelsk.536003.no.html#:~:text=In%20total%2C%20Norway%20has%20a,those%20in%20pre%2Dtrial%20detention.

I used to work with people doing community payback. Lots had already had a short stint in prison. The main comment about prison was it was really boring. I don’t think it would bother me as I’m pretty content in my own head but lots of people find it hard.

Exactly let it go. It's not as if it's your son.
Why would anyone go looking for stress and trouble. Enjoy your life.

Prisons obvs not hard enough then is it?
Also it's not actually like that for everyone.

You've overlooked the fact that child abusers don't mix in.like that they are segregated.

People also appeal their sentences, if they liked it that much they wouldn't appeal.

People do. Some people leave such disordered and dangerous lifes that prison is preferable to being outside. I'm no one of those who thinks prison is all PlayStation and cups of tea either. Prison is not nice but for some it is preferable to what is on the outside.

Why would you choose losing your freedom. etc as a choice?
Odd, I couldn't think of anything worse than being locked up, I think I'd rather not be here.

This thread has made me really sad. Some people are such massive cuntts

Because I know from working in the tiejd