To think it can’t be that a hard to keep drugs out of prisons

[Stoveding]

it Shocks me every time I hear about how ride it is with known dealers inside.
Surely, if there was a proper will, it could easily be all but eradicated?

have you been watching the programme on Durham prison. very interesting, and they are clearly, very underfunded and over stretched

Well yertalkingshite I know that may be a popular view but in doing it it means elevating murderers, rapists, drug barons and vicious acid throwing thugs and abusers who prey on the old to some sort of superstar status in jail - and the thrive on it. Low life thinking they are Mr Bigs.

It’s not elevating anyone, it’s not top trumps ffs. There are evil people who have committed a range of offences, and I wouldn’t praise anyone who committed a violent offence.

I also wouldn’t lose any sleep over a beast being injured.

Please do try not to tell me what I mean, it’s pretty patronising. I elevated nobody, that was your perception.

Oh and that’s not my username btw.

YeTalkShite you created a hierarchy in what you said. I didn’t say you praised anybody by the way - your interpretation.

You accused me of “elevating” rapists and murderers.

And if you think there is a crime that is equal to the abuse of a child that says more about you than anyone else.

So you can stop being snotty now.

yetalkshite
Elevate = to raise or lift (something or someone) to a higher position.
Nuff said.

You don't have to commit a horrific crime to ruin someone's life. A close friend of mine was de-frauded to the tune of around £40 and it triggered their anxiety and mental illness to such an extent that they have been hospitalised for over a year now. My GM was burgled and was never the same again. Fuck their human rights.

@DesignStatement my username seems very apt for a conversation with you, and I’ll leave it at that, off you pop and bore someone else with your patronising snottiness.

Yetalkshite - Indeed you do suit your username very well, though chiponshoulder would suit well too.

chiponshoulder

I watched the Prison programme it’s harrowing at times. The staff are always compassionate it’s such a sad state of affairs all these young men’s lives are so wasted so often the reason being drugs

Yes Enthusiasm there was so much wasted life due to drugs. It was a difficult watch.

On the tele programme it showed how sniffer dogs were a rarity but proved successful in finding an 'egg'. You could have resident sniffer dogs but there is no money. You could have body scans.

There are options but there are too many cuts to pay to implement anything.

Yes - underfunded and understaffed dealing with some of the most dangerous people in the country

There are so many ways to get drugs into a prison. Dealers change them all the time, they are very clever (which people tend to underestimate sometimes). It's virtually impossible to eradicate them completly, infact it is impossible.

the mental health of some of the prisoners was very difficult to watch. the last episode with the man who seemed very childlike who was pleased to get sectioned, was particularly hard to watch.

user I found it very hard to watch, I work in mental health and also have teenagers with ASD, that man should not have been in a prison, he obviously had a lot going on and was unsafe to be living independently, people like him get taken advantage of and then end up getting in trouble with the police. There’s not enough support to keep people like him out of prison

People with undiagnosed or untreated mental illness are flooding the prisons - and we are told how many young men in particular are on waiting lists for help on the ‘outside’. Considering how much it costs to keep one person in prison, it would be far better to put the funding in to mental health care of young people. Prison Officers have an almost impossible job - and they know it.

so why is there this cycle? (excuse me for being so naive) but it blatently obvious that the mental health services in this country are inadequate, why doesn't anything get done about it? I try and keep up with politics aa best I can, but no-one seems to be saying anything about how we at least try to improve. Especially as in the long run, it would be cheaper!

user it’s all down to money at the end of the day. I hope things are on the change but I doubt things will change quickly. There’s a lack of hospitals/units with beds for mental health patients due to cuts and due to staff shortages, sadly not many people want to work in mental health (it’s not a easy job), I have a feeling brexit will make this even worse as a lot of nursing and care staff are not British nationals.

I see a lot of people that should be in hospital but there are no spaces and the price of sectioning and giving someone a bed is massive so mental health services do all they can to keep people in the community, a lot of these people end up being taking advantage of, or end up being a harm to others (but more likely themselves).

It’s wrong that prison staff spend a lot of there time stopping people from harming themselves. Of course there will alway be a high number of people with mental health issues in prison because most people in their right minds would not commit crime? It’s alway been a huge issue and always will be. Prisons need to change, they need to do more to protect inmates and to stop drugs coming in, they also need more mental health specialists working on site. Chances of this happening are pretty slim.

Unless you work or have worked in them you don't get an opinion.

Sundance

Thank you for your informative and thought-provoking post.

I wonder how recidivism rates in the more enlightened and humane penal systems in some Scandinavian countries compare with those in the UK?

You'll struggle to find a prisoner who doesn't have at least one (more commonly several) of the following:

A neurodevelopmental disorder such as ADHD (20-40% of male prisoners) or Autism (we don't have stats but it's higher than general population).

Have suffered head injuries (up to 60% of prisoners).

Has an IQ below 80 (a quarter of prisoners do).

Been in local authority care (half of youth prisoners have, who of course often go on to be adult prisoners).

Suffered childood abuse (around 50% at the very least)

That's leaving aside mental illnesses (which are common among all of the above populations).

The prison population is a neurodisabled and traumatised population. What we do is cut finding to CAMHS, social services, local child and youth services and education. Cut benefits. Cut prison staff. Cut adult MH provision and drug and alcohol services...and on and on.

It's convenient that disadvantaged people end up in prison because then we can write them off as scum rather than examine the failures in our society and in our governmental policies that led them there.

SpecialBond very true in the majority of cases.

The truth is 'public service' is not respected any more by our government. Bonuses and profits seemed to become the thing to aspire to.
Teachers have been ground down, NHS staff ground down, Police and Prison staff likewise ~ more often highlighted in the press for the failings of the minority in these services, rather than for the bravery, heroism and service of the majority. We've even seen ambulance staff and firefighters being attacked while in the service of the public. These jobs are high stress positions, and in some cases very high risk positions. They are also essential services and we are all in shit creek far faster if these services fail more than some of the jobs that attract higher cudos and higher salaries.
We need to keep the morale of the staff in essential services high. We need to pay them well, and recruit and train the best. We need to highlight the good they do, for all of us.

Absolutely - Design.

I have worked in several prisons but as a well paid healthcare professional who dips in and out to give a specialist opinion and I am mostly treated with courtesy and respect because engagement with me is of benefit for the inmates and (usually) valued by them.

You could double my salary and I still wouldn't want to be a prison officer.