The punishment of prisoners
The Government employ bus drivers, teachers, doctors, housing officials , police, justice and many other departments full of employees, that then get paid. Those workers spend their money in Gibraltar and the cogs keep turning, Government to employee and back to Government It's like the saying which came first the chicken or the egg. Which came first the Government or the people. It all runs smoothly until someone steps out of society and ends up in prison. When that happens they are out of the system. All their needs are catered for whilst there however I'm interested in afterwards, Does the punishment continue . One thing about Gibraltar is that your prison is far better than any other nation including the United Kingdom's Victorian converted workhouses.
What kind of support?
Although prison sentences in Gibraltar do seem to be lenient , they also have the added advantage of only needing to carry out a third of the sentence with good behaviour. Unlike your neighbours who will happily lock someone up for 4 years without a trial, just because they can. The food is better, the facilities and environment in Gibraltar are palatial compared to many other countries worldwide. It is not a fitting place for children to be housed in but this is a problem that is known about. When that door is unlocked and the prisoner steps outside, what kind of support is offered to get them back into the system that they were snatched out of?
A victim of crime might be of the opinion that they ( the prisoner) knew what they were doing. They knew that they would lose their home, their car, their job, their family , friends, children, marriages and lifestyle , it's all part of the punishment. But is it? Surely the prison sentence is the punishment. When the door opens they ( the prisoner ) has paid his debt to society.
There doesn't appear to be an support or half way house for prisoners to re-integrate back into the system. Where are they going to live? How are they going to get a job. Let's face it , without money , crime is going to be the next option open to them. Getting back into a life which they were ripped away from by society no matter what the reason, leaves the responsibility of getting back into the that society on the shoulders of the system that put them in jail. How has jail worked if they are not integrated and return to a crimeless existence?
Not nameless
It must be even harder for someone to come out of prison in Gibraltar knowing that everyone knows someone , who knows your story. To walk down Main Street must be a torment in itself. You are not nameless faces in the crowd. However nothing can be done about that. Gibraltar is small , and gossip travels fast. What can be done is that newspapers and television could perhaps remove their stories and webpages after a certain period of time to help these people rebuild their lives within this community.
If finding a job was not easy, finding one would be impossible with a criminal conviction. However, for the determined and lucky ones that do find a job , the next part of their punishment comes into play. An ex prisoner having been for an interview and found a job, then trots along to the Gibraltar Bank , only to find that due to their past they can not open a simple account with limited banking options. No Bank, no debit card, no way of cashing in wages, is just a further punishment. But it doesn't stop there. If they manage to get a car or scooter, they go to their insurance company and find that they are going to be punished financially again. No matter where they go or how hard they try to move on, someone somewhere is trying to punish them further. Without a mentor or half way house to ease them through these difficulties, is it any wonder that ex prisoners give up , and actually want to return to the comfort of their warm dry cell where they have no responsibilities or hassle.
The mental health question
Drug and alcohol addiction, and mental health issues cost the Government huge amounts of money. Yet without a half way house or support for ex prisoners, the problems they face having lost everything for years, can lead to mental health and depression, as well as addiction. Gibraltar needs to extend its excellent prison service, to support their ex offenders through the hardship that they will invariably suffer, just to get them back into society so that they can become useful cogs in the grand scheme of things. If it can't do that, at least give them a helping hand to open a bank account. No one is asking for money just the facility for them to make it for themselves. They don't need credit facilities but just a way of getting their wages paid in, isn't a lot to ask is it?
The problem is always that symptoms are addressed, and yet no one asks what the cause can be. If a ex prisoner reoffends, then perhaps they should be asked, what could we have done to help them? It's easy to tut and say they deserve it, they did something bad, but when the jail door opened they paid in full. How do banks and insurance companies then feel they have the right to keep turning the thumb screw tighter on these emotionally vulnerable people?
17-01-18 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
