Did you know that the criminal justice system doesn’t work? It really doesn’t! Can offenders be transformed? Well yes. Are there exceptional officers? Well yes! Has the justice system changed in the last twenty years? Well actually, yes. So why’s it still going horribly wrong?

That’s simple; it is because of a lack of empowerment, communication and pro-social modelling in a constructive way. You take a damaged individual, give them little or nothing to do. Ensure the statistics show they are employed or educated, and leaving with a home to go to. Then in reality do the exact opposite. The statistics say the system’s done its job, but the re-offending figures staggeringly show they haven’t.

They take a damaged human being and damage them more. I entered prison for a brief time in 1994 and it was a darker place than it is today. So yes it has improved. Entering a decade later to finish a sentence, I quickly learned that if I wanted anything out of the system I had to do it myself. I was lucky; I worked in almost every department co-ordinating various projects for over two years, in both open and closed conditions. Thanks to some proactive governors I was asked to look at improving the systems in place, and quickly learned that communication and co-ordination was the biggest problem in both prisons.

It doesn’t take huge resources, it’s mostly common sense. The areas that change lives in any prison are the education teams, chaplaincy, IAG departments, voluntary organisations and proactive officers. These areas can be run well or, badly, but if you are going to engage with a prisoner, you have to do it through these people. I am a great advocate of schemes, like User voice, Caring for ex-Offenders, Forgiveness Project, St Giles, Prison Fellowship, The Clink, BICs and many more. But these people help the lucky ones. The people that get to hear about them because they have a service contract with that prison or engagement in place. It’s like a lottery.

Normally the most capable or manipulative prisoners work with the staff or engage with outside agencies. This means the very people that do engage are the offenders that don’t need the help, or won’t use or need that help on release, because they can already help themselves. Prisoners generally have low self-esteem, and low educational abilities. Offenders need others to empower and engage them, to help them connect with these incredible organisations outside that do change lives.

To engage with the offender you need to link with the prison newspapers and the offenders families. You need to communicate with the pro-social staff, and the departments that work with Joe on A wing. Think about how Joe on A wing is going to hear about what you’re doing. Are the management telling you they engage with Joe? Because trust me, they rarely do. Do you think you engage with Joe on A wing? I assure you, in most cases, you don’t! The solution? Realistic communication and engagement where it’s needed. So that Joe on A wing does get to hear about what you’re doing, in a way that Joe on A wing is made to believe he or she is worthy of, and able to achieve. If most offenders had been empowered as kids with boundaries, they wouldn’t be in the prisons now.

So why aren’t enough prisons empowering offenders to use your organisation? Sound simple, it actually is. Start demanding it!