Report of the Inquiry into the circumstances of the Death of Bernard ...

The description of a negative culture appears to correspond with HMCIP’s picture of life
on K wing.
Fair and active regimes
17.13 The Prison Service understands the value of fair and active regimes. As long ago
as 1984, a report of the Control Review Committee focussed on the importance of
activity within prisons and concluded that the prison system should be based on
“individualism, relationship and activity”. 1 Using the term “dynamic security”, the report
argued that planned activity, tailored to prisoners’ wants and needs, and the
development of good relationships between staff and prisoners, were necessary for both
safety and security in closed establishments.
17.14 The Woolf Report about the disturbances at Manchester and other prisons in
1990 concluded that justice in prisons was an important element in maintaining order
through appropriate relationships between staff and prisoners. 2
17.15 In 2000 the Prison Service commissioned research from the University of
Cambridge Institute of Criminology about measuring the quality of prison life. The
research included examination of prisoners’ levels of distress and, conversely, wellbeing.
It was found that levels of distress were linked to aspects of the prison
environment. There were significant differences between prisons. The measures of the
prison environment that contributed most directly to reducing or increasing distress were
perceived physical safety, respect, relationships and fairness, dignity, frustration, clarity,
security and order, and family contact. Levels of distress provided reasonable indications
of levels of suicide risk in each prison over time. This is consistent with Dr Wright’s
advice to the inquiry that a sense of being treated unfairly may be harmful to
psychological health.
Promoting healthy prisons
17.16 The importance of prison culture has been recognised by those who monitor and
manage prisons.
17.17 HMCIP has adopted four ”healthy prison criteria” as the key elements in its
inspection model. The criteria are: Safety – that prisoners, even the most vulnerable, are
1
Home Office (1984) Managing the Long-term Prison System: The Report of the Control Review
Committee, London: HMSO.
2
Home Office(1991) Prison Disturbances April 1990: Report of an Inquiry by the Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Woolf
and His Honour Judge Stephen Tumim, (The Woolf Report), London: HMSO.
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