Found this over at Kiwiblog on the 'Misleading Headline 2' post.
-----JURY TO DISREGARD-------
As someone who has been in prison - I think it would be better for everyone that they employ screws who did actually do a lag - it is the ultimate job experience. Someone with an understanding of the other side is psychologically and practically more equipped and to deal with the issues. It would be better for them to have a direct understanding of their "clients."Posted by t selwyn at January 22, 2006 12:28 AM
Yep, lets hand over the prison system to ex-inmates who, as we know are likely to be:
Illiterate
Drug abusers
Mentally unstable
Suffer from mental illness
Associated with a gang
(These are the 'excuses' THEY use for being there, remember)
I have met plenty of inmates who are none of these. Perverts excluded, they are a rather small minority of those residing inside.
If you think there is corruption now, you ain't seen nothing yet!
I used to understand them very well indeed- the majority had no morals, were liars and thieves and had the coping skills of a six-year old. Most of the rest were whiny cry-babies in total denial as to why they were there. ('that kid asked for it..' KF's)
There were a few that lost it in a moment of insanity or stupidity, having previously lead good lives, were truly remorseful and tried to quietly get on with doing their time.
Statistically, I suppose a few were in there through no fault of their own.
But back to the issue of hiring past inmates- Just leave the current government in. They are letting the crims run the prisons more, and more as they interfere with the running of these institutions they have never set foot in- forgetting the main purpose for a prison is to protect the law abiding citizens. Perhaps this is what T. Selwyn is meaning.
5 comments:
When this issue came out in the news last week my first thought was, more poachers turned gamekeepers (that useful concept) which already commonly occurs in the welfare system. I must frame some OIA questions to find out how many women on the DPB get a suitable qualification (courtesy of the taxpayer) and go on to be social workers/caseworkers? In some cases filling their clients heads with 'victimhood/entitlement' ideology.
Traditionally, the prison service used to hire ex police and armed services.
We were certainly no angels, but understood rules and consequences (when you broke them)
You screwed up- you took the lumps!
The system worked reasonably well, then!
BTW we had to have NO convictions for anything more serious than speeding. Which wasn't a crime against the state, then!
This happens every time I take the word verification off...
Go away- I've already got one!
Well, loonbats, being a screw is a shitty job. If they fail to get into the police, they try the army, and if they fail that they become a prison guard. Is a multiple reject the sort of person you want? The last thing a prison needs is uptight, simplistic, psychologically marginal types running the show.
Having said that most screws are OK, but some of them who yell often and have no social skills are probably ex-army and seek conflict and view their role as the menacing overlord. These are the sorts of people that cause riots. If there was a choice between these people and someone who had experience on the other side you would have to look at the nature of their convictions. As you say "I have met plenty of inmates who are none of these [really bad things]". It isn't ideal - but when we are recruiting South Africans and Islanders as screws we have to do something.
"Having said that most screws are OK, but some of them who yell often and have no social skills are probably ex-army and seek conflict and view their role as the menacing overlord."
I know the type- we certainly didn't appreciate them either- they would wind a wing up, which the next shift would have to deal with.
They tended to be the profile you mentioned, those who couldn't get intio the Army or Police (once, they would have become traffic cops!)
They tended to be the young 'gung-ho types'
Most of us just wanted a quiet shift and to get out of the shit-hole.
Recruitment is a serious problem, more so, retention.
15 years ago, they rarely had to advertise or. The typical recruit was ex armed forces or police and moved on to the prison service. It paid very well and was looked on as a second career.
Then pay and conditions were slashed.
Now it's a job you take while looking for a better one.
That's why they recruit off-shore. $34k isn't much incentive now.
It's the old story- you pay peanuts, you get monkeys...
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