PEOPLE with DISABILITY in PRISON

Presented by Miss Julie Pitts

Global Issues

• We are all human• We all have the same basic rights• We all make mistakes• All countries have laws and people who break them

– including people with disability• All countries have systems to deal with this, but

generally are ineffective &/or overwhelmed• Lack of clarity of the purpose of a prison• Lack of clarity of the role of a prison officer

PurposeThe UK Prison Services statement of purpose reads:

“Her Majesty’s Prison Service serves the public by keeping in custody those committed

by the courts. Our duty is to look after them with humanity and help them lead law abiding and useful lives in custody and after release.”

DICHOTOMY OF NEEDSSecurity/ Protect the public from dangerous offenders

Reform/RehabilitateChallenge assumptions – behavioural cause

Proposed alteration to deal with dichotomy of needs emphasis.

“It is our duty to help those committed by the courts to live useful and law – abiding lives in prison and on release, with the qualification that they must not be allowed to escape and they must be treated with humanity.”

Lord Romsbotham

Well Governor, we let him have a thermal hat to keep warm and he used it as a disguise – we just couldn’t see him!

So, tell me, how did an 81 year old man in a wheelchair manage to escape?

Dichotomy of needs: Security v humanity

Issues for Prison Staff

• Lack of clarity on prison purpose • Lack of clarity on prison guard role• Inconsistency from prison to prison• Security versus humanity• Health and Safety• Microcosm of Society – education, health,

religion/spiritual practice etc – overwhelming• Resources – estimates re disability, not facts!• Prison officer – prisoner relationships

What has already been achieved?• Queens speech “Biggest shake – up of prison system

announced as part of the Queen’s speech” Gov.uk• Prison and Courts Reform Bill (England and Wales)• PA New "reform" prisons to be opened, with emphasis on

training, rehabilitation and education• Governors of new prisons to have freedom to agree service

contracts and establish their own boards• More statistics on post-release offending and employment

rates to be published• Courts and tribunals to be modernised, with greater use of

technology to reduce delays

AbuseNOMS PSI 16/2015 Adult safeguarding in Prisons

ONCE YOU DENIGRATE ONE PERSON, YOU DENIGRATE US ALL

“Abuse is any act, or failure to act, which results in a significant breach of a prisoner’s human rights, civil liberties, bodily integrity, dignity or general wellbeing, whether intended or inadvertent; including sexual relationships or financial transactions to which a person has not or cannot validly consent, or which are deliberately exploitative.”

HUMAN RIGHTS DO NOT STOP AT THE PRISON DOOR

NeglectNOMS PSI 16/2015 Adult safeguarding in Prisons

“Neglect is a failure to identify and meet the needs of a prisoner, for example by ignoring medical, emotional or physical care needs, failing to provide access to appropriate health, care and support or

educational services or withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating. In the prison context neglect by others is principally relevant to the behaviour of staff,

because of their duty of care for prisoners…”

DISABILITY IN PRISON SHOULD NOT MEAN

“DOUBLE TIME”

Rehabilitation; The importance and needs of Visitors & Families

WHO ARE THEY? ISSUE/IMPACT

FAMILYFRIENDS

STAFFLAWYERS

SUPPORT PERSONNELCHAPLAINCY

NHS PERSONNELSUPPORT AGENCIES

YOU?

ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS – UNIVERSAL GUIDE IN VARIOUS

FORMATS NEEDED

APPROACH/ATTITUDE – VISITORS ARE NOT PRISONERS AND SHOULD NOT BE

TREATED AS SUCH

ACCESS TO MEDICATIONWITHOUT THESE PREVENTED FROM

ATTENDING

“40% of prisoners said that support from their family and 36% said that seeing their children, would help them stop reoffending in the future.” Prison Reform Trust, Ibid

Why is CHANGE so important?

“If you always do what you have always done,You always get what you’ve always got.”

“A nations prisons are indicative of its society”

The difference between responsibility & blame

Only by taking responsibility as individuals and as a society can we change

Change, especially constructive change, is a personal choice.

What could our Governments do?

• Listen• Act – how:• United Nations CRPD Articles• Give current laws ‘teeth’• Obey the Law – immediate SS assessment of needs• Monitor numbers accurately & allocate resources

accordingly• Monitor to safeguard vulnerable adults externally• Hold accountable for choices and actions

What can WE do as individuals?

• Stop avoiding the issue – raise awareness• Stop allowing your fear to rule your life• Act from love & compassion not hate, anger or

fear : Tyger Blair, Zen community USA• Speak openly• Speak to the basic humanity, not the conviction• Believe what you say• Lead by example• Sing, write, paint, create – TELL THE STORY

“Forgiveness liberates the soul, it removes fear, which is why it is such a powerful weapon”

Nelson Mandela, Invictus

“What you can do, or dream you can, begin it.Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

Only engage, and then the mind grows hearted.Begin it, and the work will be completed.”

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“For one human being to love another, That is perhaps the most difficult of our tasks,

The ultimate, the last test and proof,The work for which all other work is but preparation.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

Words to consider…