INTRODUCTION
Since the formation of the prison system in the UK, the general role of imprisonment is to punish offenders by taking away their freedom. By doing this it takes offenders off the streets, thus protecting the public and preventing them from committing anymore crimes while they are locked up. But over the past number of years, prison standards have become increasingly worse with inmates not receiving the help they need to tackle their addiction to crime and how to adjust to normality once they are released from jail, and the seemingly careless attitude from prison staff who no longer raise an eye to the declining health and well-being of their prisoners. In this report, we will study the reasons why prisons are looked upon in such a negative light and the implications they have on the mindset of its inmates both inside and outside jail.
ARE PRISONS FIT FOR PURPOSE?
Over the past decade, the question of are prisons fit for purpose has been a popular topic among the media and criminal experts and Nick
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Nick Hardwick has also stated that the worst problems included prisoners being locked in overcrowded cells for 23 hours a day and that Wandsworth jail holds 1,630 inmates, 70% more than its official capacity of 963 and this increase in numbers has caused overcrowding in every cell available inside the prison (Dunt, 2015). Davies (2004) reported that deaths inside UK prisons are due to overcrowding after figures showed that two people kill themselves every week in prisons in England and Wales, there were also 7700 self-harm incidents in the first half of 2003 with 94 people committing suicide while awaiting trail and 40% took their own lives within their first month in