The President’s recent visit to Parc Prison in South Wales to study its family intervention programme is important, as it draws attention to the need to assess prisoners in the context of the family, to which they would hopefully return after their period of incarceration. This can be stressful for all concerned, particularly young children who will find the situation difficult to comprehend. Of course, in a family where imprisonment is an occupational hazard, this may be a different matter: in England I heard a boy rejoicing that his brother had been sent to prison and he would have their shared bedroom to himself.

Of equal importance is the need for education and training of prisoners, to give a better chance of stability and of employment on release. Many prisoners have talents, which can be developed and employed within the prison environment and away from temptation. A good example is the chapel at Corradino, expertly and lovingly restored by a long-term inmate, who sadly committed suicide after his release.

Prisoners who have turned their lives round in prison include the Hong Kong Triad I met when I took a group of Criminology students from Malta to Liverpool prison: sentenced to life for the execution of a rival gang leader, he had found religion, obtained an OU degree in IT, and was about to be released on parole, with a job already lined up. Federal Prisoner AZ586 had been sentenced to 45 years in Alcatraz for armed robbery. When I met him there, I found that he had re-discovered his Catholic faith, obtained his High School Diploma and then, while on parole, had qualified as a radiologist, eventually becoming Head Radiologist at a California hospital. He was on Alcatraz as a guide, selling and signing copies of his autobiography. The drug smuggler I met in Oxford Prison was studying Optical Sciences and had an offer of a post-release job with an Oxford scientific company.

What they all had in common (apart from their original criminality) was that they had found a new skill and interest while in prison, and had hope, stability and an opportunity for worthwhile employment on their release: the Triad testing and designing computer games; the budding Radiologist, AZ586, welcomed into the home of his sister, who was married to an enlightened police officer; and the drug smuggler, whose wife visited him in prison bringing books and optical samples, rather than walking away.

In Ireland, the U-Casadh (U-Turn) project, near Waterford, founded by a former Prison Officer, is putting this philosophy into practice. On leaving prison, participants are offered a structured programme to ease them back into the community. This addresses their immediate needs, including the use of modern technology, applying for medical cards, housing and social welfare. The project then provides courses in cooking, life-skills, behavioural skills, anger management, addiction, and literacy. Participants are supported in finding long-term employment, which, with a criminal record, is often difficult. Self-employment can provide a way forward for some and work within the project’s cooperative enterprises for others. Among its numerous successes are the ex-burglar who installs burglar alarms, the persistent drunk-driver training to be a nurse, the newly-skilled wood-carvers and builders of traditional wooden boats. Recidivism in Ireland is 67 per cent, but for the U-Casadh project it is 25%.

For Malta, a combination of the Parc Prison scheme and the U-Casadh project could be an ideal solution. For prisoners prepared to enter such a scheme, it can provide a seamless transition from cell to street.

Martin G. Spillane