Prison Inmates

Nowadays prisoners are kept in separate institutions according to the severity of crime committed, as well as to the age, sex and other conditions. Consequently, the inmates include unconvicted prisoners, juvenile delinquents, women prisoners, recidivists and life sentence prisoners. Most prisoners serving longer sentences are held in correctional institutions, which are usually large maximum – security buildings holding offenders in conditions of strict security. Young offenders are usually detained in reformatories, often designated under names that imply that their purpose is treatment or correction rather than punishment. Women are normally held in separate prisons. Prisoners who are not considered a danger to the community may be confined in low-security or open prisons.

Unconvicted Prisoners

Some of the prison population consists of unconvicted prisoners held in custody and awaiting trial. These prisoners are presumed to be innocent and are treated accordingly. They are allowed all reasonable facilities to seek release on bail, prepare for trial, maintain contact with relatives and friends, and pursue legitimate business and social interests. They also have the right to wear their own clothes and can write and receive unlimited number of letters.

Young Offenders

In Britain, young offenders are held in reformatories, which are designed for the treatment, training and social rehabilitation of youth. School-age delinquents are kept in residential training schools, and young offenders between the ages of 16 and 25 who have been convicted of a criminal act serve in special facilities.

Women Prisoners

Women are usually held in smaller prisons with special programmes and recreational opportunities offered to reflect stereotyped female roles, with emphasis on housekeeping, sewing and typing skills. Women prisoners do not wear prison uniform and there is a clothing allowance to help pay for clothes in prison. Some prisons provide mother and baby units, which enable babies to remain with their mothers where that is found to be in the best interests of the child. In addition to the usual visiting arrangements, several prisons allow extended visits to enable women to spend the whole day with their children in an informal atmosphere.

Habitual Offenders

Criminals who have frequently been apprehended and convicted, who have manifested a settled practice in crime, and who are presumed to be a danger to the society in which they live are referred to as habitual offenders. Studies of the yearly intake of prisons, reformatories, and jails in the United States and Europe show that from one-half to two-thirds of those imprisoned have served previous sentences in the same or in other institutions. The conclusion is that the criminal population is made up largely of those for whom criminal behaviour has become habitual; moreover, penal institutions appear to do little to change their basic behaviour patterns.

Though the percentage of recidivists runs high for all offenders, it is greatest among those convicted of such minor charges as vagrancy, drunkenness, prostitution, and disturbing the peace. These are more likely than serious criminal charges to result from an entire way of life. Accordingly, their root causes are rarely susceptible to cure by jailing.

Life-sentence Prisoners

Since capital punishment has been abolished in Britain, the severest penalty for the most atrocious crimes, such as murder, is life imprisonment. Those serving life sentences for the murder of police and prison officers, terrorist murders, murder by firearms in the cause of robbery and the sexual or sadistic murder of children are normally detained for at least twenty years. Life sentences for offences other than murder can be reduced to nine years.

On release, all life-sentence prisoners remain on licence for the rest of their lives and are subject to recall should their behaviour suggest that they might again be a danger to the public.

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