Crime and Society

The word �prison’ evokes a stream of images of inmates banging on the bars of their cells and armed uniformed guards, but lately it is becoming more of a popular belief that Prisons may be too soft. The basic reason for the existence of prisons is that society expresses its wishes through court and finds it necessary to separate and isolate some people, who have broken the law. The concept of this is as old as society itself although our ides of crime and punishment have changed over time. The Queensland Government’s “Department of Corrective Services” (DCS) has formal goals it seeks to achieve, the strategic plan of the DCS states “As a strategic partner in criminal and social justice for the Queensland Government, our purpose is community safety and crime prevention through an integrated correctional services system delivering humane containment, supervision and interventions for offenders”.

(“Queensland Corrective Services”, 2006) Formal Goals and Strategies stated within the DCS plan include; Identifying and addressing the increasing needs and demands of diverse subgroups within the prisoner population through enhanced prisoner management practice and Minimising the risk of re-offending through targeted and coordinated intervention services by preparing people, who have offended, for successful community integration according to their risk and need.

The DCS goals are closely linked to the 3 main theories of Punishment; Retribution: the offender must be punished so they realise their actions are not acceptable to society, Deterrence: if the offender is given an appropriate sentence they might stop committing similar offences in the future and other people thinking of committing the same offence maybe persuaded not to do so and Rehabilitation: the offender should be given an appropriate sentence involving support for their problems, so that they reform their criminal tendencies. These 3 theories of punishment are similar to the goal of minimising the risk of re-offending through targeted and coordinated intervention services by preparing people who have offended, for successful community integration according to their risk and need. There has been a deliberate shift in emphasis towards Rehabilitation. Prisons were once a place of punishment, but now they are more a place of rehabilitation. There is no more hard labour instead there is paid work, there are also many education and vocational programs available now with better facilities, the education and vocational programs provide offenders in custody with valuable skills and training to help improve their literacy and educational levels, also to improve their employment opportunities. The programs play an important part in the rehabilitation of prisoners. Some of the educational prgorams include; one-to-one literacy education, iteracy and numeracy education ,secondary education and traineeships or apprenticeships. (“Queensland Corrective Services - Rehabilitation”, 2007)

Stakeholders are individuals and groups in the community that affect or are affected by the operations of the Queensland Government’s “Department of Corrective Services” Stakeholders have an interest in whether the Department is delivering quality Prisoner service and whether the Prisoners are satisfied.

(“Queensland Corrective Services – Resources - Stakeholders”, 2006) There are a range of stakeholders with contrasting viewpoints about the �change in focus’ and the level of prison effectiveness generally. Two contrasting groups are the Victims and the Prisoner’s Family. Many victims of a crime believe that prison is way too soft on the Prisoners and believe they should be punished more then they already are, where as the Prisoners Family’s believe that prison is in some way too harsh on the Prisoners and do not give them as much benefits as they deserve.

There are a number of problems hindering the DCS (Department of Corrective Services) from achieving their goals. Two major problems hindering are, inappropriate relationships with inmates and HIV infection within Prison. Inappropriate relationships with inmates are becoming more and more frequent there have been many investigations related to this problem. In 2006 reports were conducted for the concerns of Maree Barnes-Powell (an employee of DCS) and Johanna Cunningham (an employee of the Corrections Health Service – CHS) and their relationships with inmates. (“ICAC”.NSW. 2006) Ms Barnes-Powell was employed as an Alcohol and other Drug Worker at the Industrial Training Centre, Long Bay. Ms Cunningham was the Nursing Unit Manager at the John Morony Correctional Centre, Windsor (John Morony). Both women had inappropriate, close personal relationships with inmates. In each case their relationships with particular