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Criminal Justice in Britain
Raphael Rowe |
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In his series looking at the criminal justice system, Today reporter Raphael Rowe spoke to criminals about why they had offended and what could be done to change their behaviour.
Raphael has looked at the difficulties of going straight after being released from prison and interviewed criminals who have no desire to change their ways. He also shared some of his own reflections on the 12 years he spent in prison for a crime he didn't commit - and the difficulties he encountered dealing with the world after he was released.
You can read and listen to his reports below or read his webchat.
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Reports
'Going Straight'
"I'm going straight because it's a decison that I do wanna do. I'm now a family man. I'd like to think I can go through my life and not commit another crime but temptation is a very hard thing."
'Once a Criminal, Always a Criminal'
"I commit crime to earn lots of money....If I had an ordinary job I'd be earning 4 or 5 pounds an hour. If I go out thieving twice a week I earn 5 or 6 hundred pounds"
Life After Prison
'A Private Visit'
"That was the first time I'd had intimate contact with a woman in over seven years, and the last for another six. It tends to stick in the memory, those clumsy and frantic two hours in a prison chapel side-room on the Isle of Sheppey"
'Having the Choice'
"Decisions have to be simple, they have to be black and white. Grey I can't handle. Now I've got the freedom to make decisions I find I've forgotton how to do it."
'Open Space'
"Freedom when it came was difficult to deal with. These huge open spaces when I'd been used to an horizon always four feet away."
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An inmate at HMP Swaleside |
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How effective is just locking them up? |
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