Beware the fiery furnace

The best way to progress thought your sentence – part 1

All lifers, whether mandatory or discretionary, all IPPs, whether never released or recalled, and all prisoners serving an Extended Determinate Sentence will be fully aware of the need to persuade either the Parole Board or prison staff that their “risk” is manageable elsewhere.

This brings difficult challenges, even without Covid restrictions, and prisoners will need to know what they can do to contribute to this challenge, beyond getting themselves properly and legally represented.

The Parole Board are on record (Parliamentlive.com, archive, IPP, November and December 2021), as appreciating that very uncertainty, i.e. not knowing if or when you are going to be released. However they are also on record as saying that they do not make decisions based on sympathy. Quite right too, in my opinion.

The latest unknown is the long awaited publication of the Moran research. Professor Moran was commissioned by the MoJ to evaluate the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPDP) and delivered his results, which cost nearly £1 million to produce, in 2018.

According to David Rose in the Daily Mail (20 March 2021), the research shows that risk actually goes up if you are on this pathway! The degree of increase is not stated, however. It is therefore not surprising that Kit Malthouse, Minister for Crime and Policing, was asked about this when he answered questions from the Justice Committee, chaired by Sir Robert Neill, on 14 December 2021. He replied that this is still “going through the process”, and hoped it would be published this year. He also provided some reassurance that he was sure he would have been told if there was anything alarming in the research. We shall see!

The statements and opinion from the Parole Board, in the same Inquiry, into IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection), were equally important.

Martin Jones, CEO of the Board, stated that there are many opportunities to make poor choices whilst in prison. Indeed to some extent, any prison environment presents challenges such as social contacts, tolerating others’ behaviour and attitudes, substance misuse etc.

It will be helpful for all of you to remember that the primary function of the MoJ and the Parole Board is to “protect the public”. The “release test” considered by the Parole Board is whether it is necessary for the protection of the public that you are detained. However, the Parole Board and others are particularly concerned about the number of IPPs in particular who are recalled. So, read the Release Plan very carefully and raise any concerns at all, e.g. what does this actually mean, maybe the word “relationship” comes to mind, with your Community Offender Manager. Indeed, the number of recalled IPP prisoners will soon be greater than those who have never been released once, who currently number 1,660.

Of course, there is an important balancing act between public protection and rehabilitation. Historically, and usually, this means engagement with “courses”, or a Therapeutic Community. However, Covid has seen a dramatic reduction in availability of, at least courses, and there is major concern, for the last 2-3 years, about whether they are effective, i.e. do they “work”, which should equal reducing risk.

For example, an MoJ evaluation of “Resolve”, a very popular violence reduction programme, in early 2021, showed that it did not reduce future violent offending, but did reduce future non-violent offending, presumably car crime, shoplifting, benefit fraud etc. Perhaps not the most serious of crimes in the universe, in my opinion.

In any case, Dr Maganty, a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist working in Birmingham, in a secure Mental Health facility, emphasised that “treatment” has to be evidence based, since people in that sector are there, i.e. detained under the Mental Health Act, for “treatment”.

Lastly, in this part 1, please do not think, and definitely never say, that you are “no risk”. Historically, you must have done something very bad to get sent to prison in the first place, and decision-makers, e.g. Psychologists, especially Psychologists, and definitely the Parole Board, will look at what you have done, an “old me”, in other words, and then will hope, or expect, to see a “new me”.

Thus the Parole Board and others will hope and expect you, not just to have been a good, or fairly good, or eventually good prisoner, but realistically to become a good non-offending citizen.

And woe betide if you re-offend on licence! More burning fiery furnace awaits, for those who re-offend. I promise.

Part 2, next month.

Dr Peter S Pratt BA., M.Psychol., PhD., C.Psychol., AFBPS., Dip.HSM., AHSM. Consultant Clinical and Forensic Psychologist. Psycho-Social Services Ltd