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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to wonder why we care so much about overcrowding of prisons?

254 replies

Ellie126 · 23/07/2026 18:38

Just that really. It’s prison. For people that have committed horrific crimes. Why are we giving it a second thought? Granted, I know some crimes are less ‘severe’ than others but they should still serve the sentence they were given. I can’t believe this is even a political issue right now!

if overcrowding is really issue, should capital punishment be given to the most SERIOUS offenders? For example for the two men that abused and assaulted that poor adopted boy. If they’re taking up space… that would solve the issue? They have no place in society and we certainly shouldn’t be worried if they feel cramped!!

OP posts:
LakieLady · Yesterday 18:05

ExtraOnions · 23/07/2026 19:37

If you haven’t seen “inside Barlinne” I would advise you to do so.

Drug (and alcohol) addiction is behind so many of the crimes and criminals. If we want people to not re-offend we need to be prepared to invest in decent rehabilitation inside prison, and good support on the outside. You can’t manage drugs in prison, and run a rehabilitation service inside, if the place is overcrowded.

The number of people with undiagnosed and untreated Mental Health conditions is huge .. again this takes money inside, and outside, of prison to solve.

I live near a Cat B prison and used to know someone who worked on the hospital wing.

He was a qualified mental health nurse, and he reckoned that at least 80% of the inmates he dealt with had a diagnosable MH problem, despite the fact that the majority of them were in the hospital because of a physical health problem.

LakieLady · Yesterday 18:11

CaptainMyCaptain · Yesterday 17:23

Tents are just impractical in our climate. On every level it is not an answer to prison overcrowding.

Tents aren't very secure, either. You can't lock or alarm a tent!

jacks11 · Yesterday 22:31

AutumnHazel · Yesterday 15:50

I do care to an extent about overcrowding in prisons, but I care more about not letting violent criminals out of prison early.

I’d much rather the former than the latter. I think most people would! If prisoners have to be in tents, so be it… I don’t think that’s a good thing, but it’s got to be better than letting sex offenders out before they’ve served their sentences!

I think it is a false dichotomy, actually. Keeping people overcrowded or in tents is a really bad idea, for all the reasons I’ve given. We need a better solution, quickly. Perhaps there has to be a more careful assessment about the type of prisoners being released, for example- or finding a way to temporarily increase prison estate that is not forcing people to camp in tents. Which may well actually be open to legal challenge. And I can only imagine how impossible it would be for prison officers to ensure safety and security in tents, for goodness sake. I think it is a recipe got chaos! Imagine it during a Scottish winter- you are asking for trouble- physically, legally, morally- for both staff and inmates.

Not all of those being released are going to sexual or violent offenders- I understand the concern, though. And the reason to use the worst case examples to illustrate a point.

We know that if not managed appropriately re-offending rates are high and offending can escalate in seriousness. You just move the issue- they stay in prison for now- but come out unchanged at best, hardened and angry at worst. There will be more victims in the future, partly because of that failure.

Again, one of the marks of who we are as a society is how easily we strip people of their rights. I’m not negating the impact in victims, I’m simply aghast that shrugging our shoulders or building tents seems to be totally acceptable.

jacks11 · Yesterday 22:55

AutumnHazel · Yesterday 15:58

Tents may not be acceptable for prisoners, but being raped by an offender let out early isn’t acceptable either… We have to make hard choices sometimes… In this case, the “hard choice” is the tents in my opinion.

Again, it’s a false dichotomy. Without rehabilitation in prison, and support upon release, the individual is more likely to reoffend… so either way there is another victim. The only difference is in the timing of it all. In no way a satisfactory outcome, in my view. It’s not even a least worst case scenario, in my view. You just kick the can down the road, so to speak.

I just don’t understand the “well, it’s not ideal but, hey, what else can we do?”, shrug the shoulders and move on… because, after all they are just criminals so ultimately we shouldn’t care all that much about their safety, or rights. Or, indeed, the safety of those tasked with running prisons. And those future victims we could have prevented? Ah well- at least they were victims after their attacker completed their previous sentence…. Makes all the difference, right? Of course that is all ridiculous, isn’t it?

So, you keep them all in jail- in chaotic, overcrowded and often unsafe conditions, with no support before or after release- and you expect good outcomes? it might be a year or so later than if they had early release, but it’s still another victim, which was potentially preventable. I refuse to believe there is not a better solution than tents or overcrowding. I agree early release runs those risks too, as again lack of rehab is still an issue- but at least we could try to minimise those by releasing non-violent offenders/those less risky, for instance. And work on identifying ways to increase capacity, or safely reducing the number of custodial sentences with non-custodial alternatives. I’m no expert in either of those, or how that might be done- but surely better than the alternatives suggested. Assuming you want to do more than be “tough on criminals” and actually want to change outcomes.

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