Letters to the Editor | 1 July 2006

Prison doesn’t work

From Peter J.M. Wayne
Sir: That not one but two highly indignant letters to the editor (24 June) should have been occasioned by my humanitarian concerns about children in prison (Books, 17 June) is a sad and disturbing reflection of the cruel and punitive mood that dominates the whole stagnant debate about crime and punishment. Of course Mrs Jettubreck should expect to be able to walk the streets near her home unmolested. But merely to throw these troubled youngsters into jail — a temporary respite at best — at such a critical and impressionable age will only serve to heighten their sense of alienation.
Yes, they need taking in hand, but not by the older, already contaminated prisoners they will meet inside. These wayward boys (and girls) need to be given real and demanding challenges — projects that will benefit them and the community where, let us not forget, they also live. Such schemes need imaginative and vocationally motivated leaders (I would relish such an opportunity were it offered to me) who can connect with the children, make them feel wanted, valued and (dare I say it?) loved for what they are.

The young have always been quick to pick up on what they see around them, good or bad. Send them to prison and they’ll be out in a trice. But next time it won’t be sticks and stones with which Mrs Jettubreck has to contend. Take it from me. I’ve done nearly 25 years in prison. It will be stiletto blades and automatic pistols.
Peter J.M. Wayne
H.M. Prison Wandsworth, London SW18

From M.J. Willington
Sir: I sympathise wholeheartedly with Mrs Jettubreck. Regrettably, the state has in recent years taken draconian steps to strip parents of their right to discipline their children effectively. These ‘feral youths’ now hold the whip hand in our communities and have assumed the status of a protected minority.