PRISON REFORM

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 118, 21 May 1945, Page 4

PRISON REFORM

SEGREGATION URGED

AN URGENT NECESSITY

By the REV. G. E. MORTON

Your recent spirited articles on prison reform are pleasantly indicative of your continued adherence to the humanitarian spirit of the motto: "For the good that we can do."

Readers, no doubt, will have read the case of the Dunkirk veteran, Joseph O'Brien, together with the replies by the Controller-General of Prisons (a public servant) and the Minister of Justice. As one with inside knowledge and several years experience of our prisons system, it is my considered opinion that the Controller's reply is an arrogant defence of prison officials who, themselves, had reported upon their own actions. He states, moreover, that those who criticise actions of officials are "prejudiced and swayed by sentiment." The general public are not to be hoodwinked by such nonsense, and have formed their own conclusions. The reply of the Minister is definitely a defence of a breach of prison law by prison officials, and as this matter is still sub judice 1 refrain from further comment. You have definitely struck the right note when you state that the prison officials, when it suits them, disregard the statute law and make their own. From the Controller-General downwards all are satiated with the prison viewpoint. This applies to a greater or iess degree to medical officers, official visitors, and visiting J.P.'s. Consciously or otherwise, their sympathies are on the side of the authorities. If they had not assimilated this viewpoint they would not continue in their various capacities. Criticism of the Prisons Department is hotly resented. In fact this Department shows a hypersensitiveness that suggests that all is not as well as they would have one believe. Recent Case Cited Our whole penal system stands in need of drastic revision, with the lack of segregation of offenders as a glaring instance of the incalculable harm which may be caused to young offenders who have to associate and work with "old hands." At the recent sessions of the Supreme Court an old offender was recommitted to prison for having polluted with his burglarious tendencies a gang of youths who had emulated his exploits. In a modern system of penalogy the present officials would not find a place, and it is only natural that they should endeavour by every means to uphold the regime by which they can earn a living. Remedial measures demand a trained personnel. We must face up to the fact that for years past, as was exemplified in a recent advertisement for warders, the emoluments offered and the educational attainments demanded for applicants are such that men of imagination and sympathetic understanding are not encouraged. It is interesting to note the words of the ControllerGeneral of Prisons, as reported in the "Public Service Journal." Speaking of prison warders, he states: "We have poor officers who have no personality, are no good at handling prisoners, and no good at maintaining discipline. I make this statement deliberately because it is a fact.'.' Modern methods of training and rehabilitation in England have to-day got well beyond the experimental stage and are teaching offenders to face the future—not a blank wall. At Wakefield prison, for instance, the training system is now regarded as a social service of the highest order. It is not founded on fear but on hope. The English prison officer is a very good type. His job does not make him hard-hearted or wooden; he is just as human as any other civil servant. There are about 2000 of them in English prisons. The profession is one with its own technique. About 10,000 men apply each year for the post of prison officer, "and of these 1000 are selected for interview.

Personality Test They are interviewed at' the Borstal institution or prison nearest their homes. There are three tests, a personality test—an interview with one of the prison commissioners—a stiff medical examination by a prison medical officer, and an educational test. Out of every 1000 interviewed 200 are selected for the training college for prison officers at Wakefield. There are four courses each year, of nine weeks each. The men, who are between 23 and 40 on admission, learn prison rules and regulations, are taught details of prison life by specialty selected senior prison officers, and attend lectures on prison discipline and other subjects. Seventy-five per cent of the students are finally accepted, and allocated to various prisons. They are still on probation for a further 12 months before their appointments are confirmed.

With a personnel trained on these lines many of the undesirable features of our present system would be eliminated. For instance, spying, cringing and informing are encouraged and even rewarded at the cost of moral decadence to the informer. A complete medical and psychiatric examination of each entrant to a prison is essential. I am firmly of the opinion, through personal knowledge of and contact with the offenders, that had this precaution been taken the recent assaults on warders in Auckland Prison would not have occurred.

A proper segregation of prisoners is urgently needed, based on their offences and their incarceration in institutions suited to their individual cases instead of the promiscuous arrangement that now prevails. I have in my book, "A Parson in Prison," pointed the way to several constructive factors which have resulted in my being banned from the prison. However, in spite of this and other rebuffs the humanitarian work will still go on. An enlightened community will press for the eventual removal from a residential area surrounded by three schools (St. Peter's School conducted by the Marist Brothers, Auckland Boys' Grammar School and the Grafton Primary School) of such an anachronism as Auckland Prison and the archaic and outmoded methods of treatment of delinquents of which it is a symbol. All train travellers from the North pass this medieval fortress which must have a psychological effect on all who pass by. Your spirited efforts, I feel sure, will materially assist to awaken public conscience to this desirable end.