The prison system in England and Wales could reasonably be described as being in crisis. Discuss.

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The prison system in England and Wales could reasonably

be described as being in crisis. Discuss. 

Within any society, no matter how embryonic, crime and deviant behaviour is always almost certainly present. Due to the ever presence of crime, there are nearly always certain measures, procedures and administrative bodies in place to deal with the matter. In most countries the measures in place, could be described as the commencement of criminal justice proceedings and the use of some form of prosecution and punishment service. Within England and Wales, upon conviction of a criminal offence and having been sentenced to a custodial term, her majesty’s prison service is employed to carry out, and manage the punishment of any said individual. This is where the basis of this essay lies, within her majesty’s prison service and the in-depth exploration of the administration itself. This will be accomplished through various readings and research with a view to eventually be able to identify whether the prison system in England and Wales could reasonably be described as being in crisis.

In order to efficiently and accurately begin to draw conclusions regarding what state the prison system is in, it would be prudent to first establish what factors would contribute to any of the prison system’s failings resulting in a said crisis, whilst also revealing what elements or circumstance would suggest that the prison system is functioning  both smoothly and successfully. Firstly it is necessary to properly define how the term crisis is employed in this context, and to move away from any suggestion that it may mean the penal system as a whole, is in dire straits and on the verge of collapse. In order to have any factual grounding it is more likely that crisis is meant to be descriptive of a manner of underlying problems impeding the smooth flow of the system. From approaching the subject from this viewpoint, it is possible to present a strong case that the prison system is in a state of crisis. Continuing down this tangent would naturally lead to the most obvious question regarding how to judge the prison system effectively, by asking if the system is still socially relevant and up to date whilst fulfilling its main directives.

‘Perhaps few would dispute that the penal system has serious problems - but is it really in a state of crisis? Then again, how long can a crisis last whilst remaining a crisis rather than business as usual?’ (Cavadino & Dignan, 2001: 12) 

Here Cavaindo and Dignan are explaining that due to the nature of the work involved in the penal system, dealing with budget changes enforced by changing political stances, and the huge moral challenge that is involved in managing the penal system, it is difficult to classify the system as in a crisis, as all day to day running’s of the system are bound to encounter some form of trouble which shall have to be addressed and resolved. Therefore meaning that despite encountering many hitches along the way, the prison system due to its special circumstances could be viewed as successful, well at least from a social and political point of view.

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Despite this, a crisis cannot be fully ruled out due to certain failings that are obvious when the system is viewed from a penological aspect. To gain more insight into this, we need to delve further into who the penal system serves, how it does this and ultimately who benefits.

Firstly there is the important role that prison plays within society. The penal system serves a huge purpose within modern Britain, whilst the obvious one being maintaining and managing the captivity of criminal offenders, but also on so many other levels. Despite being touted as a sinking ship, and ...

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