The Commentary

This last autumn has seen an ongoing debate about the fact that Britain has too many offenders and has run out of prison cells in which to keep them.

There are 140 prisons in England and Wales with a capacity for 79,900 prisoners. The numbers in prison have risen from 60,000 in 1997 to the full capacity this year.

Fingers of blame have been pointed in various directions. The government has not built new prisons. Foreign prisoners are somehow the problem. We are locking up too many young people. We have become too keen on the use of prison sentences. Petty offences are three times more likely to lead to jail than ten years ago and the average length of sentence has increased from 21 to 26 months over the same time.

Proposed solutions to the crisis have been numerous. We should relax sentences and let criminals out earlier. We should use more community sentences. We should reintroduce prison ships.

Judge’s view

But as we sadly ponder all these statistics and what is happening to our society, especially among young people, we should take notice of the words of one learned judge writing the foreword to a book called Crime and Civil Society (Civitas, ISBN 1 903 386 36 5). He says: ‘The important thing is to deflect and deter young people from starting a life of crime, to catch those who do commit a crime and to deal with them appropriately. The task can be summed up by three ‘P’s — parenting, policing and punishment. Many of us would add a fourth — piety. Selfishness is the forerunner of every criminal act.’

It is, of course, the first and the fourth of that series from which the secular society shies away. Ask any schoolteacher about the most disturbed and disruptive youngsters who are most likely to become offenders in later life. Although it is not politically correct to say it, nevertheless, in private they will explain to you that they tend to come from broken families. It is boys growing up with no influence from a good dad who so often go astray. But instead of coming out in clear support of the traditional family, the government leans more and more on the overstretched social services and the under-funded police force. And if the learned judge is correct, the government’s response to his fourth point is appalling. According to supporters, the Inner Change programme, which teaches prisoners Christian faith, has been shown to reduce re-offending to as little as 8%. But the pilot scheme of this programme run in Dartmoor prison was shut down last June, not because it was not producing results, but because it did not comply with ‘diversity policies’. To have prisoners re-offending, it seems, is more acceptable than that they might become Christians.

Healing churches

But it is no good simply lamenting the situation. What is needed, especially by so many young people, is a strong dose of Christ-like love — both tender and tough. One immediately thinks of the Christian work of such organisations as Caring for Life in Leeds, who provide a home and support for some of the most difficult and violent youngsters in the country and see so many of them turn their lives around. It is the love of Christ which can transform lives (2 Corinthians 5.17). Gospel churches should be known for such love. It is loving churches which can be the family many youngsters do not have; where they learn that there is a God who loves them and there is a better way to live than selfishness.

Too much porridge?

Judge’s view

Healing churches

John Benton

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