To believe that prisoners serving life sentences shouldn’t have access to luxuries like TV or gym equipment?

[NimbleRoseMoose]

Why should taxpayers fund entertainment for people who’ve committed heinous crimes?

A nurse i work with was once working in a prison, she says she used to enjoy it more years ago when they were actually treated like criminals and had less privileges instead of the last few years where they act like they're in a holiday park!

They don’t do a degree for free. They still have to
apply for student finance for the tuition fees then pay it back if or when they hit the earnings theshold. They’re not allowed to apply for maintenance fees and even if they tried, it wouldn’t be approved.

Who is going to pay for the extensive rehabilitation.

It keeps them somewhat under control because they have TV and gym.

There's a couple of men where I live are in and out all the time, they say at least they get fed inside and a bed off the streets!

I don't think it's that easy to go to prison.

Also, even if true the revelation from the 2 homeless people isn't how luxurious prisons are but surely how abhorrent being homeless is that someone would prefer prison over it.

What’s your experience of working in a prison though? Not just someone you used to know, but your personal experience?!

It’s not that easy to get sent to prison though

All people need leisure time, even people in prison. The human mind and body can’t work every waking moment. We cement learning during our rest and relaxation periods. If we don’t give our brains and bodies time to relax, any good work we do to improve ourselves is worthless.

it doesn’t have to be tv, but tv is probably one of the cheapest and easiest forms of leisure that a prison can provide.

I’m amazed at how sympathetic most posters seem to be with prisoners serving long sentences for brutal crimes. If someone had raped and murdered my toddler I’d want the rest of their life to be as shit as possible. Maybe that makes me a bad person.

Who says prisoners haven't already paid many years of taxes?

Why not bring back thumb screws and the rack while your there ?

The thought of having to get ready to "go out" effectively every evening is just too much.

So you want them to be locked up, bored with nothing to do bar make trouble for the hard working staff trying to keep order in there.

They are already supposed to do a variety of activities - education, workshops, rehabilitation programmes, employment experience, etc, The TV time, etc isn't 24/7.

Gym time means they get exercise which is useful for helping their mental health and general health too.

I get that. I really do. But my husband and I both work in prisons, they’re already dangerous enough. Removing these things makes them even more so. It’s not about being ‘sympathetic’ to prisoners. It’s about keeping the staff who work in those jails as safe as possible.

Don’t read the Daily Mail to find out what prison is like. Read a book by someone who has been in prison, such as Jeffrey Archer, or Chris Atkins. Both are very informative.

I work in a prison. The levels of dyslexia/adhd are astonishing.

Threads/attitudes like this really boil my piss.

Same here. Prison is a revolving door for some. But that says a lot about their lives, and not the system.

💯

My DP was facing the possibilty of prison last year. He read some books about prison just in case. There was a chapter on how to maintain the dignity of your cellmate whilst they took a shit.
Bloody depressing.

It doesn't make you a bad person, and my own sympathy doesn't extend to sex offenders. But a lot of people in jail tend to fall into the 'there but for the grace of God go I' category.

OP most of MN is hard left. They would scrap prison altogether if they could.

After all, it’s the scummy victims who are at fault for complaining about criminals. So unkind and right wing to want to see people punished for crime.

I'm not sure a TV is taking the sting off a life sentence really. No one is thinking "well it's not really a punishment now that I can watch eastenders".

And I think that probably having some things like this, (that can maybe be taken away ie losing the privilege of going to the gym?) probably help prison guards with management. And they have a hard enough job already without making it harder on them.

I just don't understand the "holiday park" idea. The food is terrible. The beds are uncomfortable. The cells are cramped and sometimes damp. The hygenie arrangements are often basic. There is all too often a pervasive atmosphere of violence and aggression. Your mate's been to some pretty rubbish holiday camps, TBF.

I've had more than one previously perfectly healthy client get TB in a British prison in the past three years - and I don't have many clients in prison!

You really have not though this through...

What do you think would happen if a bunch of violent people stuck in one place had nothing at all to occupy their time?

The tax payer would pay a higher price for prison riots or for medical health professionals having to fix up prisoners after fights.

Not to mention that prison staff would be working in a much more unpleasant and dangerous environment.

You would also be dealing with increased drug use and suicides.

I have no sympathy for prisoners serving long sentences but you need to look at the bigger picture.

Stare at wall, atrophy or break rocks for all I care with the really awful criminals as the people they killed don't get any enjoyment out of life and I doubt their families get much either.