Prisons: is bigger better?

Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky suggested that the way a society treats those it imprisons says much about its level of civilisation. Yet the jails of many civilised societies are tightly packed, meaning that convict clogging could impair rehabilitation.

Political pressure

Politicians face pressure from constituencies to take a hard line on crime, which leads to pressure on the judiciary to imprison criminals, particularly those guilty of violent crimes, for longer terms. Yet there is public pressure for prisons to cost as little as possible. On the other hand, other than removing dangerous offenders from society, there are serious questions about the effectiveness of prison while levels of re-offending remain high.

The solution: 'titan jails'?

In the United Kingdom, as elsewhere, prison numbers are close to capacity, leading to short-term inmates being held in police cells.  The government's latest solution is to build four 'titan jails'.  These would hold around 2,500 inmates each –- over twice the capacity of the country's current largest jail.  The government insists that titan jails would be cost effective thanks to economies of scale, allow a wider range and higher quality of facilities, but would remain manageable because they would be made up of autonomous units of around 500 inmates each.

Government confidence in the effectiveness of titan jails is not widely shared. Fleury-Merogis prison on the outskirts of Paris holds 3,800 inmates.  French officials have warned that, particularly in a situation of overpopulation, an institution of this scale is a tough beast to tame.  A large prison population makes it difficult to ensure that all inmates have access to facilities, while large numbers of prisoners congregating in public spaces within the institution –- such as exercise yards –- creates potential for disturbances.

The impersonal nature of large prisons also makes it difficult to run effective rehabilitation and offender management programmes.  In many US 'super-prisons', security concerns are addressed using remote electronic solutions, which reduce the ratio needed of staff to prisoners.

An ideal prison

It is probably true that an ideal prison should contain around 500 inmates.  However, this leaves the question of how to make prisons cost effective, while also rehabilitating offenders, rather than simply meeting out retribution and acting as a deterrent to would-be criminals.

One rather obvious solution is to imprison fewer people, and to seek alternative punishments, particularly for non-violent crimes.  There is good evidence that community-based penalties are significantly more effective at preventing re-offending, while also eliminating the family break-up and other broader social problems that go with imprisonment.  In parts of the United States, systems that seek to match sentencing with prison capacity have been effective both in reducing prison overcrowding and lowering crime levels.

Another possible solution is to allow the private sector to manage prisons.  This has been employed in a number of countries, including the United Kingdom and United States, and in some cases has led to more efficient and cost effective institutions that are still able to offer improved conditions and access to offender management programmes.  Yet to be viable, private sector prisons have to employ the economies of scale that titan jails seek.  This leads to many similar problems, and suggests that, while prisons always will be a necessary part of society, the conditions and role of penal servitude will continue to provoke debate.