7th March 2007

Things are starting to get cranked up for our holiday to Kenya, although neither of us can really believe that we will be there in a few days time. Most of what we need is now bought, all vaccinations are done and all that is left is for us to start packing over the next few days. It sound idyllic, sun, sand, sea and very high temperatures - will I want to come home? We will be staying with Mary's brother, David and his wife Liz and they are organising out itinerary. They have already suggested a glass-bottomed boat trip to see the dolphins and to view the fish around coral reef. We will probably also be doing a Safari and probably a lot of lieing around on the beach, some snorkelling and catching up on a few novels.
Day off today - but neither of us really fancied the customary walk in the Dales and just continued to get things ready for the Kenya trip. Mary has spent a good part of the afternoon putting music on her MP3 player and I have pottered round doing bits and pieces and reading.

I have finished volume 1 of Jeffrey Archers Prison Diaries which I have found very informative and helpful in understanding more about the prison system and the man himself. Before reading the book I always felt a distinct dislike for Lord Archer, partly because of the party to which he belonged, and partly because of his dishonesty. But whilst reading the book I have begun to feel less hostility and even some sympathy for him. I fear that if I read volumes 2 & 3 I may even get to like the man!! He certainly comes across as a person who was able to command respect and even some measure of popularity amongst his fellow inmates, although one has to remember that the impression I am being given comes from his own pen, and he is an extremely skilled and persuasive writer. He seems to have spent the best part of his first three weeks in prison amongst prisoners who were serving life sentences because they were more settled and accepting of their sentence and less likely to give a celebrity a hard time.

From my own experience of working with inmates in the local prison I am still amazed and appalled at how Judges can give a person a custodial sentence when they are clearly not a danger to society and should be given some other form of punishment. I have met so many prisoners who committed non - violent offences, people who are not dangerous but are locked up in prisons that are overcrowded. Surely, when the government are claiming that our prisons are at breaking point, it is time to consider alternative ways of punishing men and women rather than locking them up. Incarcerating a man who has tried unsuccesfully to work a tax dodge, or been found guilty of embezzlement is a waste of money and a cell. Instead that man could be forced to make a worthwhile contribution to his victim and to society by keepng him at work whilst he financially pays back his debt. The Judge's deliverance of a custodial sentence usually ruins the man's marriage, seriously damages his children, and in general terms does more harm to the prisoner's family than it does to the man himself. Many men, even those who have been succesful busines men who believe they have something to look forward to on release, find that the stigma of prison ruins their chances of developing a succesful career after their release; making them an even greater burden to society.In addition, imprisoning a man costs the country thousands of pounds. Prisons, locking men and women up, should be reserved for those who are violent and a danger to others. The grey areas come in the decisions to be made about recidivists and those whose crimes are drug related. The latter problem being one of the greatest that our society faces today. So much crime now is drug related. Putting a drug addict in a prison so that he goes through withdrawal and stays clean for the remainder of his sentence is not even the beginning of the solution. When the man leaves prison and goes back home he immediately picks up old friendships and old ways. His whole environment will work against him and before too long he will be addicted again. Part of the answer lies within the sort of follow up and support the man gets when he has left prison. Even moving him into an entirely different part of the country could be a consideration. Oh if I ruled the world........