Parole.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Anyone watching? Really interesting.

I thought both this weeks stories were so sad. Bethany was seen as a nuisance rather than as someone who was crying out for help, and was locked up for it! I understood the fear someone else could have got hurt by her actions, but she needed help. I loved the hug between her and her mum when she was released. I hope things are still working out for her.

Jon I thought spoke really articulately despite constantly having the two voices in his head. It was interesting as I was listening to the programme but my dh was watching it whilst listening to something else and thought Jon was very aggressive in his facial expressions.

From the article I shared above I do feel some people are released with the expectation that they will fail and end up back inside, and this shows this with where Jon was released to and then ending back inside after 4 months.

I agree @VirginiaQ - were they thinking of not releasing him because he had been in prison for so long and couldn’t cope with the outside world? His original sentence was 5 years - yet he had already served 18. It was interesting watching when Charles Bronson was also going for parole…made me think of Charles.

haven’t they now banned indeterminate life sentences?

Part of my job several years back involved sitting in parole meetings in the prison I worked in. I did 1:1 work with the prisoners doing advice and guidance work with them during their time in the prison, and part of that jib meant that if they were being considered for parole, raging, move to an open prison, etc I would need to go to the parole meetings and talk about their engagement during their sentence, any training/education they'd done inside, any plans they'd made for when they leave, etc. I had access to an overview of their time in our prison, as well as before. I had to give my thoughts on whether I thought parole (tag/open prison etc) should be an option for them, based in what I knew of them

It was a really interesting aspect of the jib though I did feel I was less likely to suggest early release/moves than some staff in other roles. Some staff seemed very lenient and some very strict.

Fortunately it isn't based in one person's decision, but on the recommendations of a number of people from a range of job roles, so lots of different perspectives sought before a decision made.

How come the man would have gone straight to the outside and not to an open prison though. Hmmm

This was my thought exactly. I felt very sorry for him. Surely an Open prison would have been a better first test, given how long he has been in the system/prison.

I thought that after a sentence of that sort of length you definiteky do time in an open prison. How come we thought that but peter parole and his pals didn't?!?

I also wondered why he didn't go to an open prison. Surely that would be the best way for a long term prisoner to adapt to outside. Really hope Bethany does well. Prism was probably not the right place for her, but has done her good.

We also couldn’t understand why the man this week wasn’t first tried in the open prison system as Swaleside is high security. Swaleside is part of the Sheppey prison cluster which has lower security prisons so I wonder if they intermingle some of them . It’s very sad , but not really surprising that he didn’t last long on the outside .

Open prison does seem the logical option doesn't it.

The wording was really strange. It said he was accused of drug dealing, not that he actually did it.
The wording implies he might not have done it.

I thought it seemed really happy at the end about Bethany

It was so clear that Jon was unprepared for life on the outside when he said he wanted to get a nice little part time job just to cover the bills.

Simone who has never had the opportunity to live independently would need so much support to understand housing, finances, budgeting. I'm sure he would be capable of this with the right support, but 18 years of lost adult life is a lot for anyone to catch up on in one go.

Someone. Not Simone.

Yes it's sad about his life story

I did wonder if a hostel is the right environment for either of them.Weather they'd be better off in a flat.

True

the open prison (stanford hill) is literally seconds from swaleside so god knows why he didn't go there first before a gradual release.
none of the episodes have been as good as the first one, says me.

I guess it shows how it's not failsafe really.

This series made me very sad about society and about the lack of services in our country.
It seems that prison has replaced the old mental health asylums - we have nothing else to offer and support these very vulnerable adults, damaged through childhood ( or if we go back, their parents too) so lock them up. Some of these adults can't be released, or can't survive when they are, because they are institutionalised.

I work with schools. Currently, I can predict and name three, 8-10 year olds, in the 14 schools I work with, who will become these prisoners when they are young adults. Yet, ‘we’ watch it happen to them because there is so little to support them, nothing to break the chain.

Heartbreaking.

I've watched all 3 episodes now and a few things which really occured to me - there was noone to speak for the girl Matthew murdered. The previous episode showed a widow but she was literally just described as a heroin addict. I thought this was really sad.

I also am finding it profoundly depressing that prison seems to be serving as a mop up for problems in society which should be dealt with in other ways. With Bethany, the decision on her release seemed to basically come down to would she drink and self harm and therefore was she a danger to herself. You surely can't keep someone in prison because they pose a risk to themselves, that would be a secure mental health unit?

The number of people having awful childhoods, offending and then causing terrible harm to others. It's really depressing.

This. I couldn’t think of a worse environment for people with mental health conditions and addiction to be placed with other very complex, damaged and addicted people. I understand why the system is used, because it allows a group of people to be monitored and is a stepping stone to other housing, but it places them right in a vulnerable spot.

Sending Bethany to a hider was setting her up to fail. Surely her mum if she'd agreed would have been safer. Though I don't doubt her mum has been through hell with her. But she clearly loves her daughter very much.

I was hoping there would be a thread running for this programme.

I’ve watched all three episodes and found this week (ep 3) so sad. Both prisoners had mental health problems. Bethany didn’t need prison she needed MH support. I felt so sorry for Jon and felt his time in prison was being prolonged because of the fear of his MH diagnosis and what problems that might cause should he be released. So sad.

My dad is a paranoid schizophrenic, a fully functioning paranoid schizophrenic, married, family, always worked, and if you were told to pick out a ‘schizophrenic’ from a line up you wouldn’t realise it was him. That’s because he has family and when he has been unwell (literally a few times) we’ve been there to advocate for him.

I watched the programme thinking poor Jon has been dealt a truly crap hand in life starting with his traumatic childhood. I was told by a psychiatrist without family support most people with schizophrenia can’t live a ‘normal’ life because they need support that MH services don’t have the funding to provide.

He should’ve been moved to an open prison so he could start to adjust to ‘normal’ life. He should’ve been equipped with a skill and helped to find a job before releasing him in to the community. He seemed to understand his illness, the importance of his medication and how to ask for help if he needed it. A hostel was a bad choice for him and he was ‘accused’ of drug dealing, did he do it? Is that an automatic recall?

Exactly, he was accused it said.
It was such strange wording. It implies he may not have done it

Ruben seems to be minimising his actions.

I absolutely agree. He isn't owning his behaviour at all.

I think he's saying what he thinks they want to hear. "Unfortunately he hit his head and died"