Exploring the Theme of Prisoners Week Scotland 2011
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- What’s it like preparing to return to a community left possibly some considerable time ago?
- Will it be the same, or how, realistically, will things have changed?
- Starting over can be hard, but with the right support it can be done. So what kind of support might that be?
- How can communities prepare for the return of those who have been away in prison?
- Are there things that help, and if so what are they?
Questions are often more perceptive than statements or assertions, especially when the issues have many sides to them.
Welcome Home? Starting Over After Prison isthe theme for Prisoners Week 2011. Itraises questions about what’s involved as prisoners make a return to their community but also about how best to be of help to communities as they prepare to receive them.
The day of liberation from prison is a moment of mixed feelings for all concerned - a time of hope but also one of anxiety and uncertainty. The potential for new beginnings is certainly there, but they are unlikely to be achieved without support from family, community and statutory agencies. Old temptations easily arise – one’s best and most loyal friends may be bad influences. Continuing sentence restrictions may seem irksome rather than helpful, and the released person may still feel like a "prisoner", "on trial” in the community.
Programmes, Learning and Links Centres in prisons provide information about many things from housing to managing finances, substance abuse to relationship counselling, employment to living skills. Statutory and voluntary throughcare services offer similar kinds of advice in the community.
Even when the information and the advice is there, however, it doesn’t mean it will necessarily be accessed or acted upon. Sometimes the support that’s needed is a little encouragement and hope, believing in someone and their ability to unlock their potential. Offering a listening ear, helping someone to keep the appointments they’ve made, befriending and mentoring; being there for people can mean so much.
Those who study these things tell us that positive social connections, family and friends, accommodation, employment and self-belief all contribute to a person being able to stay away from offending behaviour and a return to prison.
There are many and varied points of view, of course, and it’s for communities to express what they value. It would be unreasonable to expect that communities can offer all that might be required, but through being part of a group appropriately prepared, real support can be offered. So it makes sense to ask: ‘What help do communities need to prepare for the return of those who have been away in prison? Are there things that help communities to be in a place where they can offer a second chance and if so what are they? What support can the supporters hope to find?’
Like most worthwhile questions there are rarely any easy answers and mostly they require a good bit of teasing out.
Others could be mentioned, however the organisations named below provide a flavour of what’s happening in some communities:
- Faith in Throughcare (FiT) is working through Church-based centres in Glasgow to provide support for ex-offenders resettling in their community. In an ideal world every prisoner being released would be met by people from their community who would support and help them re-integrate. In partnership with prison Chaplains FiT makes a connection with prisoners prior to release and accompanies them as they make the journey through the prison gate back into their community.
- Sharing a vision with communities about how they might mentor and support ex-prisoners is the Torry Trust in Aberdeen. Retired and unemployed people work as part of a volunteer team offering intensive support with tasks such as reading and writing, accessing information, and keeping appointments. The offer of friendship and ‘people who are here for you’ is a vital component.
- Integrate community chaplaincy works with prisoners being released to Aberdeen and works towards providing offenders with a positive support network as they seek to break away from a life of crime. Integrate help members of the public feel safe and positive about the re-integration of offenders into the community, providing support and advice to faith groups as they seek to care for offenders.
Communities will be mindful of those who were most affected by the offending behaviour that resulted in a person being sent to prison and will want to listen to the views of those who have been made victims of crime. Victim Support Scotland provides emotional support, practical help and essential information to victims, witnesses and others affected by crime. There may well be restorative elements to which attention is required as people re-settle with their families and communities. Broken trust and relationships can find some mending, though it may not be easy or quick. Organisations like Restorative Practice Scotland and SACRO have expertise in these areas.
Churches and Faith Communities might like to consider facilitating a community meeting that explores what it might mean to welcome a prisoner home. Representatives of Schools, Health Centres, Social Agencies, Neighbourhood Watch Schemes, the Police, Community Councils, Victim Support, Youth Clubs etc., could be invited as well as family and Church or Faith Community members. Such a ‘conversation’ could offer support to all concerned.
You may recognise the face of the ‘prisoner’ in the photograph on this year’s Prisoners Week card. If so it is because he also appeared on last year’s card! The theme then was ‘More than a Number’ when people were invited to see prisoners as people, recognising that each has a unique story to tell, each has their relationships, their past, present and future. This year you are invited to journey with our prisoner through the gate as a foot is placed into the community again and new beginnings beckon. Together we can act to make our communities safer and better- some of that will relate to how we welcome back those who are starting over after prison.