HMP Addiewell

  I had a 3 hour visit yesterday to Scotland's newest prison - due to start taking prisoners on December 12th.  HMP Addiewell is a privately run prison, operated by a company called Kalyx, who already run a number of prisons south of the Border.  Needless to say the prison is very modern, even verging on trendy.  Lots of light and colour make it quite different from my own - and yet at the same time there were many grill gates and even padlocks on cell doors (all common in England I am told!).  Nearly all the cells are single ones, and contain both toilets and showers en suite. 

I like the philospohy of Kalyx.  The word itself "is derived from the botanical term calyx, which is the whorl of leaves, or sepals, forming the protective covering of a flower bud.  It is a symbolic representation of protection and care and it can also be associated with growth of the individual and strength".  Kalyx claim to put care at the top of their agenda - which proves that it can be done - see blogs from earlier this month.  Respect and dignity for prisoners is their aim.  What's best for the prisoner is their prime consideration.

So, for example, while walking around the new gym they were removing the new signs already, because they contained the word "prisoner".  "We don't want to single them out as a group" I was told.  Prisoners will all be called by their first name.  And if custody officers swear at prisoners then they will be disciplined.  Unlike another private prison that I have mentioned before, the officer:prisoner ratio is higher than that of the State run prisons. 

Unlike the State jails there will be no work sheds in the prison.  “Addiewell will be a learning prison, a place where prisoners can address not only their offending behaviour and the circumstances which lead to their imprisonment,  but also where they can be helped to improve their employability prospects, their wellbeing and community support networks, not least those involving their friends and families. Achieving those goals will be both challenging and stimulating for staff and prisoners alike."

Kalyx wants to build a new breed of prison that breaks the mould of what has gone before.  Time will tell.

Comments

[Jay]

I am all for addressing the reasons a prisoner ends up as a prisoner, and giving them the chance to learn better ways, and the means to escape whatever vicious cycle may have contributed to their downfall, but I confess I feel my blood pressure rise when I hear such woolly-hatted thinking. They ARE prisoners - that's why they are there. They have lost their freedom because they offended against society. Surely one of the most important steps towards change is acceptance of what IS, before you can move on?

What is the purpose of enabling them to see themselves as 'not really' prisoners? Might it not lead to them feeling that they 'haven't really' offended? And therefore 'do not really' need to change their ways?

I'm just Jane Public, so I don't have an informed position to speak from. What do you think?

[becki]

i have a friend whoo has been in and out the jail for three years and he has said to me that if he gose back he dosnt mind as he will go to addiwell. this jail seems like a holiday camp and i dont really think the government and people are really encouriging young people to stay away from these places, plazma screen tvs showers in your room people now a days arent rally caring that there gettin locked up as these things they are receving are more like priviliges. they are going to jail to be punished not treated!

[KM]

I agree that prisoners should learn and try to improve their prospects for when they are released, otherwise they will just be more likely to reoffend. However, I think that to not call them prisoners, for example, is just stupid. Why mollycoddle them? That's what is being done. They ARE prisoners, they HAVE committed a crime, and it is no bad thing for them to be reminded of why they have been incarcerated. I don't agree that they should be treated badly, but I also think they shouldn't be treated as though nothing is really wrong. There needs to be a balance.

[Mel]

What kind of person are you to ever come up with an idea like this?

People go to jail because they are criminals and DO NOT deserve any special treatment. They should be punished and have very minimal if any privileges at all! This is exactly vacation time for them. It's ridiculous and things need to change! In a world like ours how can you afford to make a prison like this. It's just teaches criminals that it's alright to commit crimes because they'll just basically get a vacation for murder! Whoever makes jails (they shouldn't even be considered jails) should be put behind bars (without cushions and televisions or computers)!

I am outraged to hear that there are such jails out there that basically encourage crime! It's just horrible and it's people who make these jails that make our world a horrible place!

[Stephen Rodger]

I am an ex-offender and have been out of prison for many years now, and now working and leading a normal life.
As far as prisons goes, these privately run/owned ones should not be allowed as these cushy nicks only attract trouble.
Borstal's should be brought back, for the discipline and hardness it brought with it and in todays sad knife culture i think that only a sentence like Borstal training might discourage young people from carrying knives and pereptrating the offences that they do.
As for "seasoned" criminal's only tough prisons like Barlinnie Shotts Glenochil should be used for these offenders, though slightly more liberal regimes, they are a long way away from the cushiness that addiwell seems to portray.
Cons do get it too easy these days in prisons, so maybe its about time the goverment went back in time, and went back to the way prisons should be run...what they know now could assist in prison regimes whcih should be tough educational and challenging....not pussy footing about and plasma tv's, to me places like addiwell are just a holiday camp and in most casese breeding grounds for criminals to plot and plan next jobs...if they get caught again, they know they go back to a holiday camp like addiwell...the goverment have the prison system all wrong...its needs to be harsher to succeed in REHABILITATION......

Stevie Glasgow

[Graham]

Thanks for all your comments! Mixed and varied. It is fair to say that with the high numbers of prisoners and the still high rate of recidivism that the current system isn't working particularly well. Something has to change. I suppose there will always be differences of opinions about what to do. For me I think there is way too much focus about what goes on in prisons and the work needs to start first in the communities from which most prisoners come, trying to get the young before they enter the criminal justice system. But as to how you do that I don't know. I'd like to think the church has a part to play in that.
Stevie - good to hear from you and great to hear that you have been able to put your time in prison behind you. Always appreciate the comments and views of those who have gone through the system. In Addiewell's defence, all that I will say is that a lot of attention has focussed on their flat-screen tellies! Addiewell's point is simply that these are the only tvs available nowadays. They don't make old tellies just for prisons! I understand those who want a return to the old days and harsh regime - the reality is however that rates of success in those hard days weren't any better than they are today.

[AMN]

I hear everyone saying that prisons are so easy and they are not a punishment, well i wouldnt want to be locked up and not be able to do things most of us take for granted. Have you ever went to open a window and it doesnt open?? have you ever had someone, a stranger, open your door at 7 in the morning, every morning?
Jail for most people are the only time they have been listened to!! nearly 75% of prisoners in Scotlands jail have been in some sort of care( thats a guestamate). alot of the young offenders have not been taught right from wrong, they havent had the teaching that alot of "us " have. Addiewell isnt the "hotel" lot of you think it is and neither is the other jails. I worked as an officer and an civilian memeber of staff in sps and private for just over 7 years. Yes, they deserve to be punished for the crimes they commit but do you not think there is a better way to spend the £37.5 grand (another guestimate) it takes to keep a prisoner in jail for a year. Do you not think spending it on education and better care services for the potential prisoner, they could be your children or family members, please dont be naive enough to think it couldnt be.!!

[Graham]

AMN - thanks for your comments and from offering yet another perspective - as an officer and employee in the prison service. Your passion and strength of feeling cheered me!

[samantha jane miller]

my boyfriend Brendan Rogers is in hmp Adddiewell he says it's one of the cushyist jail he's ever been in i'm ashamed of him being in there bur i love him wot do i do any suggestions