Rioting prisoners

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32564, 25 March 1971, Page 10

Rioting prisoners

Sir,—When monkeys are crowded behind bars they become restless and tense. So also with humans. Prison riots could be made to order simply by permitting overcrowding. Though expedient, punishing rioters will eventually prove self-defeating. The tension in an overcrowded prison is almost physically palpable. It is seen in the faces of prison officers and heard in the hushed, almost incredibly apprehensive voices of some. They know the facts; Margaret Hilson and “Disgusted” do not. If prisoners could not escape daily from this tension it could not be borne. The illeffects of being prevented from sleeping and dreaming are now well known, and this is why sheets are important. Sheets cannot be aired, but must be folded and packed after use. If an additional clean sheet weekly enables prisoners to escape in dreams from what they cannot escape physically, it might well mean the difference between ati uneasy peace and a riot. —Yours, etc.,

PAUL MALING. March 23, 1971.

Sir, —I agree with you that no community has found a satisfactory substitute for imprisonment, but some coun? tries have been able to maintain or even reduce their prison populations. As long as we have an imperfect system we should use it only as a last resort. We overemphasise the need for medium and maximum security prisons. A

great many of our prison inmates work during the day with minimum supervision, but are securely locked up at night. Many of these could, after an initial period of detention, be released and have their sentences suspended as long as they behaved well. Why do we send a man to prison for non-payment of a fine or default of maintenance? Surely he should have an order placed on his wages. There are many ways of reducing prison populations and we should explore these to the utmost. Prisons do not pure offenders, but are training schools for criminals.— Yours, etc., INTERESTED. March 23, 1971.

Sir,—The riots at Mount Eden show that the National Government is too mean to provide decent accommodation and suitable employment for prisoners in that prison. The fortress-type of building of Mount Eden and its harsh cells were built on the lines of the Australian convict prison at Port Arthur. The Port Arthur prison was ordered to be pulled down by Queen Victoria who was shocked by the terrible treatment of its convicts, but h§J order was cancelled because of Government economies. Rehabilitation cannot be carried out in Mount Eden because of the shocking conditions which depress both the prisoners and the prison officers.— Yours, etc., DISILLUSIONED „ NATIONALIST. March 24, 1971.