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Prison treats over 18 as kids and under 18 as adults

By John Hirst

Prison treats over 18 as kids and under 18 as adults

The issue here is not whether prisoners should be allowed playstations. Rather, there are two side issues. The first relates to the issue of Prison Service Instruction 32/08. It advises prison governors that only those prisoners who are at enhanced level may have playstations and console games. However, even though these prisoners are 18 years old or above, they are not permitted to have 18+ rated games. This restriction in my view is unlawful because it goes beyond the no more restriction than is necessary for safe custody. Oddly, the Prison Service whilst being over protective of those prisoners within the adult penal estate, appears to fall short in catering for those under 18 in the Young Offender Institutions. There is no restriction on under 18s from being permitted to have 18+ rated games. This is obviously an absurd situation.

The second issue is classifying prisoners into 3 levels; Basic; Standard and Enhanced. It has all the hallmarks of lower, middle and upper class. Was it Maggie Thatcher who said we now live in a classless society? In any event, it is one thing to encourage good behaviour in prisoners and reward them accordingly, and quite another to divide and rule in this manner.

Full post as published by prisonlawinsideout on September 25, 2008 (boomark / email).