by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
Pope Francis’ 2nd encyclical has been released. It is entitled: Praised be to you: On the care of our common home. If you can’t read the entire encyclical at this stage, please read a summary or guide – online. Tune in to CCSJ’s panel discussion from8 – 9 p.m. on TCN (Ch 10) on Tuesday, June 30 when we will discuss the implications for us/the world of this comprehensive document which addresses many of the issues raised in our own AEC Bishops’ Declaration on Climate Change (June 8) – published in CN last week.
The “Creation” to which Pope Francis refers includes all God’s creatures – including humankind. God saw that it was good to create man and woman. However, by our actions/inactions, we are failing to value the gifts that He has given to us. The mere fact that we continue to allow our broken institutions to deteriorate day after day, year after year, is a clear indication of our failure to use our God-given talents/human ingenuity to create conditions that will allow each person to realise his/her potential.
The correctional/penal system, part of the criminal justice system, falls within the ‘net’ of broken institutions. Many would have read the document on Restorative Justice (RJ) published by the Ministry of Justice last year and distributed free of charge in national newspapers around September 2014 – as part of the Government’s plan to develop a policy on Restorative Justice. It included an article which I wrote entitled: The case for promoting Restorative Justice .
As I said then, our vision of a safer, just and peaceful society will only be realised if we put in place systems/procedures/practices that will promote right relationships. Sadly, the disturbances at the Remand section of the maximum Security Prison at Golden Grove two weeks ago is yet another indication of how far removed we are from this goal. Since 2012 Chief Justice Ivor Archie bemoaned the fact that our criminal justice system is in “crisis” and that urgent remedies needed to be put in place to improve the efficiency and productivity of the system.
How can we re-engineer our criminal justice system when we fail to address the many stumbling blocks in our path; when we constantly seek to put new wine in old skins; when we focus on symptoms rather than on the underlying causes of crime?
No amount of glitzy policies will help us to transform our prison system when, for example, we continue to house more than 1,100 men in the remand yard that was designed to hold about 300 inmates; when we continue to warehouse human beings without adequate programmes for work, recreation etc.; when prison officers are forced to work in the same sub-standard conditions as those they guard.
We are not serious about implementing an RJ approach. If we did, we would have acted on the recommendations of the 2002 Task Force Report on Prison Reform and Transformation and on TT Inspector of Prisons, Daniel Khan’s, report which contained some sensible recommendations. We truly need root and branch transformation.
The disturbances at Golden Grove led to a number of prison officers and prisoners being injured and requiring hospital treatment. Commissioner of Prisons Sterling Stewart said he has launched an internal investigation into the incident and expected a preliminary report soon. He said: “…from time-to-time we have these eruptions and these disturbances because of the number of inmates and the length of time they are in the prison at remand.”
I read that two days before the disturbances, jailed journalist Akile Simon, who is on remand at the Golden Grove Prison awaiting trial on gun and ammunition charges, had written to Minister of Justice Prakash Ramadhar calling for an “independent and impartial investigation” into incidents of physical violence, as well as inhumane and degrading treatment of remand inmates.
Brian Fischer’s words are noteworthy: “Prisons by their very nature can be dangerous, unforgiving environments. They in many ways reflect failure: the failure of individuals to function properly within a structured society and the failure of society to properly account for the conditions that sometimes support and contribute to criminal behaviour.”
Sgt. Kenny Hughes, a training coordinator, USA, is correct when he says: “Jails are a powder keg waiting to go off. There is so much potential for things to go wrong. Once things start to happen, there isn’t time to come up with a plan for how to handle the disturbance. That plan needs to be in place already.” Part of this plan must include a commitment to speed up the process so that persons do not have to languish in prison for years waiting for their matter to be dealt with.
There is enough research on which we can draw e.g. see data from Useem and Reisig’s (1999) examination of 317 state prisons across the USA. In this comparative study, they examined “the inmate-balance and administrative breakdown explanations of prison riots. They include several important structural variables leading to prison rioting. These included the size of the inmate population, security, crowding, inmate organisation, whether staff had ‘cracked down’ on the inmates, administrative sanctions, staff morale, employment opportunities, and number of prohibited security-threat groups. Only the size of the inmate population and staff morale significantly predicted the occurrence of a riot. None of the remaining variables were significant.” Research also highlights other predictors, including the need to consider the characteristics of offenders.
The Catholic Church teaches that punishment for a crime, “in addition to defending public order and protecting people’s safety, has a medicinal purpose: As far as possible, it must contribute to the correction of the guilty party.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2266).
Effective correction cannot take place in the current prison conditions. What opportunities are there for offenders to redeem themselves; to be rehabilitated? Daniel Khan says that 74% of former offenders re-offend within 3-5 years of leaving prison. Clearly what we are doing is not people-centred enough. The challenge is to prevent persons going through the revolving door in the first place.
Let us all play our part to use RJ to promote crime prevention – investing in our people, restore a sense of community and build the common good.
