Youth Voices on justice

At an event in the House of Lords, HM Anglican Bishop for Prisons, the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek brought the voices and views of generation alpha about the criminal justice system to a gathering of law and policy makers.

Bishop Rachel has spent the last year speaking to young people in personal conversations, through a survey and in schools. She said: ”I have become resigned to the reality that adults will rarely change their long-established views. However, there is hope in the openness that young people show to learning and changing their minds. In just a few short years, the young people that we see before us may well be the policy makers and the people holding the influence needed to change culture.”

WATCH: a précis of the event:

Junior Smart, a member of the Prisons Reform Trust who has lived experience of the criminal justice system talked about some of its flaws. He said, “Rehabilitation needs to start the moment someone arrives within the prison walls.” When he asked for help to turn his life around on entering prison, he said “I was told I had 10 years and that there was plenty of time. With that knowledge, I realised that I had no option but to take action to change my own life.”

Bishop Rachel explained that many countries like the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, ensure reintegration documents for prisoners are created from day one.

When asked if being tough on crime means sending people to prison, Junior said, “Looking at the causes of crime isn’t soft, it’s taking the long-term view. It’s much cheaper to send people to a suite in the Ritz with champagne and bubble bath than it is to send them to prison!”

“If you saw people coming out of a hospital, and then six months later going back in with the same problem, you wouldn’t be saying, ‘Let’s build more hospitals like this’, you’d be saying ‘Let’s sort this out!’”

Rufus, who is doing GCSEs at Sir Thomas Rich’s School in Gloucester said, “At the moment we are falling short on rehabilitation… and need a more holistic approach”. He advocated for investment in schools and young people’s services as well as better relationships between the police and young people, and more mentoring schemes and youth activities.

He continued, “Ultimately, we’re all in this together and the way forward needs to be through providing employment and keeping ex-offenders at the heart of the community.”

Amy, in the sixth form at All Saints’ Academy in Cheltenham talked of the need to tackle the root causes of crime, putting money into schools and low-income areas like the area that she lives in.

Lord Timpson, the Minister for Justice, sent a message thanking the young people for being involved. He said, “Understanding how the criminal justice system works is so important for people both young and old. What keeps coming back to me is the fact that everyone deserves a second chance, and there are so many people that I’ve met over the years in prison, who I have then recruited, who become successful colleagues and future leaders.”

Attendees at the event were shown the following video, summarising recent Youth Voices work to gather young people’s thoughts on the criminal justice system:

 

Holding the Key podcasts – Bishop Rachel is currently recording a series of Podcasts called  ‘Holding the key: A series of conversations to unlock the door to doing prison differently’.

Bishop Rachel is joined by influencers and change-makers as they ask the questions – what is prison really for and more importantly what could the alternatives be? You can listen here.