Outside the Gates
W1TH so much attention being paid to using a prisoner's period of punishment —his gaol sentence—to equip him for a life in which he will not be tempted to break the law again, it is curious what little help he gets in that period when he is most likely to be tempted —or, at least, most likely to fall into habits which will lead to temptation later : the period when he comes out of gaol. It will come as a shock to most readers of the Pakenbam /Thomp- son Committee report to find how inadequately and amateurishly discharged prisoners are looked after, and how contemptuous most prisoners are of the well-meaning people who do the work. The ex-prisoners' attitude is neatly summed up in the report's, conclusions : There is, too, or is believed by the prisoners to be, an attitude of patronage and disapproval on the part of certain officials and members of the Discharged Prisoners Aid Societies. Such customs as addressing prisoners as 'old man,' though intended as a corrective to this attitude, can equally cause resentment.
Many voluntary workers will be annoyed at this jibe; but the fact remains that for such societies to work properly they must gain the discharged prisoners' confidence; and it is clear that they have failed to do so. The report urges 'a strong organisation, nation-wide, which the discharged prisoner will trust, to which he will come for help when he needg it, whet(' he knows he can find a friend if he wants one, and which can act as a sponsor to him in his quest for work or. rehabilitation'—in short; it advocates a sen- sible blend of professional realism with volunteer enthusiasm. Mr. Butler should take note of its recommendations; the cost of putting them into effect might even represent a saving to the tax- payer—apart from the benefit in human terms— by reducing the number of relapses by individuals who are not, in the ordinary sense, recidivists.
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