NCJ Number
79069
Journal
Prison Service Journal Issue: 41 Dated: (1981) Pages: 1-3,10
Date Published
1981
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the advantages, costs, and risks of open prisons and compares these factors with those observed in the management of regular, closed prisons in Great Britain.
Abstract
Open prisons are cheaper to run than traditional prisons because they use fewer staff and have minimal upkeep. However, many prisoners find the invisible barrier of the open prison harder to deal with than the walls of a closed prison. Inmates are challenged to use their self-control and sense of responsibility. Many of the 30,000 men who are in closed, expensive prisons could safely enough be held in field camps, growing vegetables or doing some community volunteer work. For financial reasons alone, every effort must be made to move the prison norm away from the Victorian concept towards the simple, cheap, and unsensational corrective of minimum security for those offenders who are not dangerous to society. The more 'open' a prison is, the more goodwill and understanding is generated between the prison and the community. No references are cited.