The forgotten victims
Charles Hanson praises the work done on behalf of prisoners’ families
With the prison population in England & Wales now standing at around 85,000, and a further 450 children in secure training homes and centres, there will invariably be a significant number of families and friends who will at times feel as though they too are serving the sentence imposed by the courts on their loved ones.
These, the often forgotten victims, some of whom would have been in Court to hear the judge direct dock custody staff to … “take him/her down”, will often be left with feelings of anger and bewilderment, and sometimes shock, but always a sense of loss; for as partners and spouses of the prisoner they will be left wondering how they can cope; especially so if they have children.
Since 1995, the prison population has grown by 66% and could rise even further to 100,000 by 2014, a projected figure the Government is already preparing for. There has also been a 400% rise in the last year in the number of people serving IPP sentences - bringing the total to over 5,700.
These figures are a damming indictment of current penal policy and also a terrible infliction on families of those serving short sentences which serve no useful purpose, something already acknowledged by many respected criminal justice commentators.
In 1965, the Prisoner’ Wives Service was established to meet the needs and to support the wives of prisoners. It was run in a flexible arrangement with the Probation Service. Since 1989, and acknowledging that it’s not only wives who are affected by a prisoner’s sentence, it has been known as the Prisoners’ Families and Friends Service.
In its early years the service had close links with the Inner London Probation Service when it was agreed that all referrals to the service would come from probation and prison welfare officers. Because of changes to the Probation Service in the late 1990s, probation officers found they did not have a remit for work with families anymore and that involvement came to an end. The ethos of the Probation Service, which was originally to advise, assist and befriend and was based on the social work ethic, shifted in the late 1980s and 1990s to one of public protection, enforcement and rehabilitation - with ‘rehabilitation’ placed last in the list of priorities of probation work.
The Prisoners’ Family and Friends of prisoners based in South London (with a Freephone Helpline) is engaged in four different projects, all mainly staffed by volunteers, including the Swan Centre, which was launched in 1995 to provide a meeting place for prisoners’ families and provides (amongst other things) the ‘Presence in Court’ project, to which I am attached.
Court volunteers are assigned to one of fourteen London Crown and Magistrates Court and are committed to undertake a one day per week presence at that court after a 3½ day training period. They will make their presence known to families, solicitors, barristers, probation staff, court listings staff and the court usher.
The project offers first hand advice and information and hands out leaflets which detail visiting times and useful telephone numbers of the prison to which the prisoner will go on leaving Court; how to arrange a visit and travel arrangements; information as to the terms of the sentence imposed on the prisoner. The families of prisoners are encouraged to use the Freephone Helpline for further advice and support.
Between November 2008 and November 2009, some 1,500 approaches were made by court volunteers to the families and friends of those sentenced to custody; with some 16% of those contacting the Helpline.
Arising out of my interest in the Criminal Justice System, based in no small measure on the number of years of being in conflict with it, the Court Project was mentioned to me as a worthy cause to which I might be able to contribute at least one day a week. I see this as a departure from normal activities in that I am able to continue maintaining an interest in the welfare of those I left behind in prison and also for those who face the prospect of joining them.
I am expected to understand the legal terminology which might feature in the document, including a case set down for a hearing, trial part heard, Newton Hearing, Plea and Case Management Hearing, for Execution of Bench Warrant, application to extend custody time limit, application under the Drug Trafficking Act and so forth.
I am able to approach court probation staff and ask whether a particular case is likely to be a custody disposal, for they should have some idea about that given their knowledge of the charges or counts the defendant faces.
I always make my presence known to the court usher, solicitors and counsel who are able to identify me to any family or friends of the defendant if the case results in custody. Or I can make a direct approach to them myself after sentence and that is where one has to be tactful, non-judgemental and sympathetic but supportive and encouraging.
At the end of the day, I complete monitoring forms kept at the courts reception desk of the cases I have covered, the sentence imposed, the information I gave and the families I spoke to, and any other comments and observations I need to make.
I found on being introduced to the service that they were non-judgmental about my past and far more interested in what I could contribute; which I found to be a breath of fresh air when so many other agencies and bodies continue to define me by my past - as if that is the sum total of me and for me this was putting the very ideas of rehabilitation into effect.
With many charities and voluntary agencies struggling to provide the service for which they exist, the Prisoners’ Families and Friends Service find themselves no less having to tighten their belt and watch the pennies given the current economic climate, which is unfortunate for research has already acknowledged that a prisoner who is able to maintain family contact and unity and the community support of friends has a far greater prospect of desisting from further offending than those who have no support or indeed have lost it. That serves the family but in the final analysis it also serves the community. That to me is what rehabilitation should be all about - moreover for the ones left behind on the other side of the wall that they get all the support they need and deserve … for they too are serving a sentence.
* Charles Hanson is formerly resident at HMP Blantyre House
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