MOST people will remember their first visit to prison. The enormous metal gates, the step through the wicket gate, the keys and the first face you see. This step has been taken by presidents, bishops, government ministers, staff and visitors. But they could walk out again.
In my early years as chaplain the Women's Prison in Mountjoy, the late Bishop Joseph Carroll came on a visit to the prison and was introduced to an 18 year old newly arrived remand prisoner.
Concerned that someone so young, should be in prison, he inquired: "Does your mother know you are here?" "Ma, meet the bishop" was her response, introducing him to the woman next to her and confirming the family chain that is so much part of the pattern of crime and punishment.
It is 24 years since I first stepped through the gates of Mountjoy and today I meet many of the same names, the same families, a generation on. The chain continues. Can we break it or are we doomed to perpetuate it?
I am convinced that we need a fuller debate on crime and that debate needs wider perspectives. Part of my own perspective is that of being a Christian. I attempt to let the Word of God inform my decision making process. It is part of what I am, it is part of what many people on this island are, and I believe it has something to offer in the wider examination of the causes of and solutions for crime. It demands compassion for victims and prisoners alike.
TODAY, in any conversation on prisons, the victims of crime quickly come to the fore, and now have become part of sentencing policy. Until the victim's plight is recognised, treated and provided for there can be no real progress in prison reform.
It is only when the public is satisfied that victims of crime are being, cared for as well as is possible, and that potential victims are protected within reason, that people will be capable of addressing in a balanced way the merits and demerits of imprisonment, what happens in prison, what alternatives there are to custodial sentencing, and what use is made of these alternatives.
It is important for victims of crime to see the full picture of the background, the circumstances and indeed the hand that life has dealt - the person who is the perpetrator of the crime. Victims and their families - initially may not wish to know about them. They may just want them caught, punished and then forgotten about. Some easily slip into bitterness, resentment, hatred, even revenge - the old "eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" mentality.
It is bad enough being the victim of crime, but bitterness and resentment only damage the victim further. For some, coming to terms with being the victim of a crime can often be the effort to step into the shoes of the person who has victimised you. So too for some prisoners, a change of heart requires being accompanied to stand in the shoes of the victim.
Victims of crime could become the most credible voices in the community to advocate reforms in prison, changes in the conditions that have led people into crime and better ways of handling people who do not fit into the normal pattern of social living. They are the people who have the greatest potential to be a leaven of forgiveness and understanding in our society which is the "basic requirement for any kind of reform in the treatment of prisoners.
I ACCEPT that this viewpoint may anger many. All I would ask is that it be considered. It is so easy for those who are advocating prisoners rights to become entrenched on one side, and those who are protecting the rights of the victims and trying to get them justice to become entrenched on the other side.
There are some prisoners who have no intention of giving up crime. They are the ones who treat crime as a profession where the profits are high and the risks are equally high. Some other prisoners have no intention of changing their ways today but they may wish to do so in the future.
Not all of our prisoners set out to be criminals. We can all cite vivid cases of people who have been dealt a very bad hand in life. We don't readily call them victims of crime. They are just born with fewer opportunities than others.
It is no accident that 75 per cent of those in prison come from areas, of lowest employment and of great social challenge. As long as a nurse in Holles Street, the Rotunda, the Coombe or wherever can predict birth who will end up in Mountjoy, we have a lot of work to do.
The young person who was born a drug addict - to what degree will he criminal? The young person who grows up in crime, who is sent out from home to rob - to what extent is he or she the victim? On the other hand criminals are not robots. they have free will. We are all creatures of habit and habit can place a tremendous strain on freedom.
Time spent in prison is costly and we must make the best use of it. Anything that builds up the sense of self worth, dignity and self respect of those humiliated through imprisonment, often seen covering their heads in shame before the public, gaze, is worthwhile.
Education, counselling, personal development, work skills all acknowledge the worth of people in prison. They may have committed crimes, but they are still human beings and deserve to be treated as such and to be valued. From this they may learn to value themselves, a key first step to recovery since people incapable of valuing themselves will find it almost impossible to value and respect others.
In a paradoxical way, treating everyone with dignity, not tougher laws, is central to winning the battle against crime.
Fair play and firmness with dignity are possible. They are most desirable and they are the Christian way. This approach will cost us money, more money than just "extra prison places". Are we prepared to pay that cost? Extra prison places on their own are no solution at all. The recent production in Mountjoy of West Side Story is just one example of how to bring the best out of prisoners.
Families and close friends of prisoners often suffer more and endure far greater hardships than the prisoners. Apart from the obvious hardships and the arrangements and expenses of regular visits there is for some the added shame of publicity, the publication of names and addresses for all to read.
Having had the bail referendum, there is a danger that crime will go off the agenda and that we may think we have solved the problem.
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