After restrictions for a year do you feel more sympathy towards prisoners now?

[Gobacktothe90s]

After having restrictions on our lives for a year like when we can go out and see people, whether we can work or go to school etc I'm wondering had this changed anyone's views on prisoners and that they maybe don't have it that easy in prison being locked up 23 hours a day and only allowed out for meals and sometimes exercise?

I have to admit going through this past year I have thought without being able to do what I wanted in my own house like reading, Netflix, gaming etc after being restricted outside I would have found very hard and couldn't imagine being in prison with having nothing to do and can understand the high mental health problems in prisons.

Do you feel more sympathetic towards prisoners now?
Yes I know they have committed crimes but through this pandemic I read that they haven't even been allowed to mix at all and have meals in their cell to avoid the spread. I cannot imagine being in a cell eating,drinking and sleeping and that's it.

I have wondered how they are all coping in prisons as it must be hard with a lot more aggression and frustration around due to being cooped up and no visitors.

However I do have more sympathy for those in nursing homes who have been stuck in their rooms/beds for weeks on end with nobody to talk to just a door to look at. My elderly friend went into hospital with health issues, caught covid whilst there which accelerated his health problems so he couldn’t return home to look after himself. He then went into a home but had to isolate in his bed for 2 weeks due to being in hospital and then another 2 weeks straight after as they had an outbreak of covid in the home. This has meant that he is now bedbound and lost the ability to walk. We weren’t allowed to visit so he was suddenly stuck by himself with no familiar support and he has to pay a fortune for the privilege. Very stressful all round and he hasn’t committed a crime to warrant it 😢.

A 25yo who was in prison for joint enterprise murder, because she was present when one of the boys in the group killed someone. (She has no part in it) she was 15 and I met her when she was 25
What country are you in?

NO

Those are awful examples @purpleboy. Truth is we’re all part of a society that allows people to end up in these kinds of situations so have to shoulder to some responsibility for what that breeds. Every time someone has nodded along in agreement about benefit sanctions or the removal of yet another layer of support for addicts or felt an inkling of superiority over someone less well off/less educated than themselves they have contributed to situations like the ones you’ve outlined.

It reminds me of a religious argument I came across; if god has a plan for each of us then he’s already planned that people will be atheists, murders - sinners in general - therefore can we really judge anyone if there was never going to be a chance for them to deviate from the pre-ordained plan. I’m not religious but I thought it sparked an interesting debate about how people are by and large restricted by their environment and opportunity.

I was thinking about this yesterday and decided that prison might actually be easier. If I was sent to prison then I'd know how long it was for and what would happen each day. I'd have no responsibilities so could focus on what I wanted to do every day and have almost unlimited time to do it. I'd do workouts with my body weight, practice yoga, write letters, read, write a book, draw, meditate, study and do an OU course and a prison job if I earned those privileges. At home during lockdown, I have to squeeze in too much to do the things that I'd actually like to do. I'm WFH full-time in a demanding job, supervising home schooling, running a house, keeping the DC entertained... and there's no certainty of when it will end. It's very hard mentally, there's nothing I can do about it and I try not too think about it too much because it makes me despair.

I certainly feel a lot sorrier for families who are housed in B&B accommodation, all on top of eachother with 0 facilities, nowhere to go and no end in sight.

I didn't do anything to deserve this lockdown!!

They did deserve their lockdown!

Also, our prison sentences are incredibly lenient. I have more sympathy for America's in prison.

Yes, I have thought about this several times over lockdown, and I do have a lot more sympathy.

@BlowDryRat

I was thinking about this yesterday and decided that prison might actually be easier. If I was sent to prison then I'd know how long it was for and what would happen each day. I'd have no responsibilities so could focus on what I wanted to do every day and have almost unlimited time to do it. I'd do workouts with my body weight, practice yoga, write letters, read, write a book, draw, meditate, study and do an OU course and a prison job if I earned those privileges. At home during lockdown, I have to squeeze in too much to do the things that I'd actually like to do. I'm WFH full-time in a demanding job, supervising home schooling, running a house, keeping the DC entertained... and there's no certainty of when it will end. It's very hard mentally, there's nothing I can do about it and I try not too think about it too much because it makes me despair.

I certainly feel a lot sorrier for families who are housed in B&B accommodation, all on top of eachother with 0 facilities, nowhere to go and no end in sight.

You would honestly rather be locked in a concreate cell for 23 hours a day. No visitors, no seeing family or friends no one to talk too, nothing to do, no walks or exercise outside. No sunshine. No fresh food. No seeing your DCs or your husband. Maybe a 10 minute phone call once a week. For what could be years and years.

Well fuck me you're stupid.

Star I'm in the uk.
Cornetto couldn't agree more, people think it will never happen to them, they don't engage in criminal activity, until of course you get charged with something you have no knowledge off! They majority came from bad backgrounds, but there were quite a surprising number of people who most people would assume aren't the 'criminal type'
We as society fail these people. There were a large number of young drug addicts, they had no home, no family support, no jobs, many had children in care. They get let out of prison with no support, what do people think happen to them? Do people think they just miraculously find a job and a house? They don't! They are unemployable by most companies, if they are lucky enough to get accommodation on leaving it is usually a half way house with other homeless drug addicts, no prizes for guessing how that is going to work out.
But who gives a shit? They are outcasts, criminals who deserve nobody's sympathy or help. Cast aside while we all focus on 'putting criminals behind bars'

@purpleboy there’s a thread on AIBU at the moment where someone is in the process of getting a charge removed from their file because of a situation they found themselves in as a teenager. No parents fit to help (known to social services), no answer from social services, police refused to attend and the result was a hospital attendance where they were reported. Failed at multiple levels and left with a criminal record.

Any criminality in that scenario is not down to the individual.

No

@BlowDryRat

I was thinking about this yesterday and decided that prison might actually be easier. If I was sent to prison then I'd know how long it was for and what would happen each day. I'd have no responsibilities so could focus on what I wanted to do every day and have almost unlimited time to do it. I'd do workouts with my body weight, practice yoga, write letters, read, write a book, draw, meditate, study and do an OU course and a prison job if I earned those privileges. At home during lockdown, I have to squeeze in too much to do the things that I'd actually like to do. I'm WFH full-time in a demanding job, supervising home schooling, running a house, keeping the DC entertained... and there's no certainty of when it will end. It's very hard mentally, there's nothing I can do about it and I try not too think about it too much because it makes me despair.

I certainly feel a lot sorrier for families who are housed in B&B accommodation, all on top of eachother with 0 facilities, nowhere to go and no end in sight.

Yeah, you might. Or you might be beaten up or shanked or raped. You might mourn the loss of your privacy and not like using the toilet in full view of others. You might not like hearing and seeing the rats and cockroaches, you probably wouldn't enjoy the screaming much, it might not be nice if you were in cell with someone with serious mental health issues or withdrawing from gear. If you honestly think prison would be better than WFH full-time in a demanding job, supervising home schooling, running a house, keeping the DC entertained please, and I mean this wholeheartedly and without any sense of bitchiness, get some support for your mental health.

Yes.
In fact I started writing to a prisoner in the US during all this because I started to have a new awareness of what it must be like to be locked up all the time. Life is rarely as clear cut as a lot of the responses on this thread would imply.

Cornetto same old story isn't it? Lack of funding, and then a huge lack of empathy and understanding from the general public.
These people are failed at every level from the moment they are born.
I specifically employed people from prison, most of them just need a chance and support, social workers, probation etc.. underfunded and overworked they don't have the resources to genuinely help, so the cycle continues. I can't claim to fix their problems but I support them as much as I can, addiction is a f**ker though. Lack of addiction and MH services plays such a huge part.

Rhubarb that's a great thing to do. Your totally spot on with your comment, life isn't always clear cut, maybe would be shocked at how many people are in prison for crimes they really shouldn't be. But as I said they you would need to have empathy, and that is something severely lacking on this thread. Luckily there are good people out there like you who give a shit and try and do something that means the world to someone you don't know.

I was thinking about this yesterday and decided that prison might actually be easier. If I was sent to prison then I'd know how long it was for and what would happen each day. I'd have no responsibilities so could focus on what I wanted to do every day and have almost unlimited time to do it. I'd do workouts with my body weight, practice yoga, write letters, read, write a book, draw, meditate, study and do an OU course and a prison job if I earned those privileges
Where did you get your ideas about prison from?

Star I'm in the uk
I am properly disgusted that even after the Derek Bentley case nothing was done about the JE laws.

Having read your post I spent a while online and I am shocked that just how often the JE law has been recently used in England.

I hope that everybody you help has been allowed to put their awful experiences behind them and start living the life that they deserve.

Mind you, most Mumsnetters are incredibly sheltered and middle class so often don't realise how easy it is to commit crimes when you are desperate and have no other prospects. I'm not talking about rapists and murderers

Nope. Working class through and through. My (ex) friends husband (doing 8 years) isn't a murderer or rapist, well not directly. He did get away with trafficking and dealing cocaine for 20 years before being caught though so God knows how many people suffered in the name of his business. Does he also not deserve to be in prison because he didn't physically lay a hand on anyone? Oh and he had a very normal decent upbringing and a regular business that easily provided for his family, he was just greedy and wanted to live the high life at others expense.
I'm aware there are plenty of people in prison who perhaps don't deserve to be there but most of them do and many have very lenient sentences considering their crimes.

No. Because I didn’t break the law. That’s not why I’m now imprisoned.

No - they're all volunteers.

No. The two situations are not comparable.

No, prison is supposed to be extremely unpleasant. It's a punishment.

No,they broke the law and now are paying the price.

Star I met quite a few under JE it would appear to be quite common. The girl I knew tbf had no chance in life, was homeless at 14 after her dad went into prison and her mum beat her daily, she left school, lived on the streets and begged. She was incredibly brave and used Prison as an opportunity to turn her life around, she is now working in quite a high position of a very well know royal charity and regularly meets members of the royal family, but her ending is far from the norm for most of these people. Most end up homeless or in unsuitable accommodation and with little to no job prospects. The cycle continues. It's so sad to see it first hand, and just as bad to see so many ignorant comments on here.

@purpleboy totally agree with what you have said.