The spread of COVID-19 was limited in prisons by a restricted
daily regime, including prolonged isolation in cells, but there
has been a “heavy cost” in deteriorating well-being and an
increased risk to society that prisoners are released without
effective rehabilitation, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons has
warned.
Charlie Taylor has published a new report – What happens to
prisoners in a pandemic? – analysing in-depth interviews by HM
Inspectorate of Prisons with more than 70 men, women and children
in six prisons. The report contains many prisoner comments and
case studies and is accompanied by audio clips in which
prisoners’ comments are voiced by HMI Prisons staff
It says the negative impacts of severe restrictions on daily life
raises the question of whether the prison service has got the
balance right between managing the COVID-19 risk and providing
enough meaningful activity, engagement and time out of cell.
Mr Taylor acknowledged that predictions of thousands of deaths in
prisons had been averted through immediate and decisive action by
HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). Prisoners told
inspectors they felt that the initial lockdown rules, imposed at
the end of March 2020, were necessary.
However, Mr Taylor said, “many months after the introduction of
these restrictions, most adult prisoners were still locked in
their cell for an average of 22.5 hours a day, seven days a
week.” Prisoners questioned the legitimacy and fairness of the
continuing lack of time out of their cells.
“We have heard suggestions that the restrictions, and a
subsequent reduction in recorded violent incidents, have made
prisons safer. Clearly, with so little time out of cell prisoners
had less opportunity to be violent or fight, but this was not the
full picture according to those we interviewed. Prisoners said
that violence, intimidation and bullying had not stopped, but had
instead taken other forms. The accrual of debt persisted, and
some had turned to using drugs and other unhealthy coping
strategies as a way of managing their isolation and boredom.”
While no prisoners wanted a return to the high levels of violence
seen in some prisons before the pandemic, Mr Taylor added, they
did not believe that the answer was simply to lock people away.
Prisoners spoke of “despondency, resentment and lack of hope.”
Many likened their daily lives to the film Groundhog Day and some
said they were “sleeping their sentences away.”
The report sets out some key findings:
- Most prisoners had spent over 90% of their days behind their
cell doors since the end of March 2020, with no end to the
restrictions in sight. Cramped cells, often shared by two people,
sometimes with an unscreened toilet and poor ventilation,
predated the pandemic. Now, prisoners who shared had virtually no
privacy.
- Not having enough time to complete basic daily tasks when
prisoners were unlocked added to the pressure and frustration.
- Prisoners lacked sufficient day-to-day interaction and
support from other prisoners, staff and family and friends.
However, the introduction of free video calling, and the
continuing installation of in-cell phones, were valued by
prisoners.
- The decline in prisoners’ emotional, psychological and
physical well-being was disturbing. They were chronically bored
and exhausted by spending hours locked in their cells. They
described being drained, depleted, lacking in purpose and
sometimes resigned to their situation.
- Some prisoners said they were using unhealthy coping
strategies, including self-harm and drugs. They frequently
compared themselves to caged animals.
From the perspective of wider society, Mr Taylor said that
important functions of prisons are to rehabilitate, reduce
reoffending and help prisoners to build productive and meaningful
lives. “Opportunities for this work had dramatically reduced due
to the restrictions and prisoners we spoke to said they would be
released without having had help to change their attitudes,
thinking and behaviour.”
Many prisoners feared being released with increased mental health
problems and without having had the chance to address their
offending behaviour. One prisoner told inspectors: “There’s no
such thing as education in this prison.” Another said: “There’s
no progression, it’s just counting the days.”
Mr Taylor added: “It is likely that prisoners who are released
with no support to address their offending behaviour and no
access to education or work will struggle to cope, potentially
leading to further offending and greater strain on public
services.”
In conclusion, Mr Taylor said: “To lead successful, crime-free
lives when they leave custody, prisoners must change the way they
feel about themselves and develop a belief that they can take
control of their future. In our fieldwork we saw a sense of
hopelessness and helplessness becoming engrained.
“The cumulative effect of such prolonged and severe restrictions
on prisoners’ mental health and well-being is profound. The lack
of support to reduce reoffending and help prisoners address their
risk of serious harm to the public does not fill me with hope for
the longer term. Action is needed to maintain the few positives
derived from the pandemic, such as video calling, and to make
sure that prisons are prepared to restore activity as soon as it
is safe. Locking prisoners up in prolonged isolation has never
been a feature of a healthy prison.”
