Marie is reading one of Jeffrey Archer's 'prison Diaries' - ex UK member of parliament convicted of perjury and 'Perverting the course of justice'; if you want to know the full story, here's a link to a brief biography:- http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/jeffreyarcher/
The story she was reading (Part of jeffrey archer's diary when in an 'open prison') related to a time when 'Lord' Archer was in the open prison, voluntered to work in the prison hospital.
He saw a prisoner coming back to prison after a day out (part of the rehab process). I can't remember what he had been convicted of, but I'd guess murder since he had been sent to prison in 1969, and in 2004 had 3 or so more years to serve in the open prison.
Jeffrey saw the guy was in some sort of 'daze', and he therefore asked the guy into the hospital, for a cup of coffee and a chat.
It emerged that this 'poor' chap had been into town for the first time in 35 years; he had been 'shell shocked' by various things. These are the salient points for the gut's 'daze'
1) he had never seen a supermarket trolley before.
2) he had never seen a pedestrian crossing, and was scared to go accross thee road
3) he went into a clothes shop, and was asked if he'd like to 'try something on' in case it didn't fit (it was only a shirt) because it was only a shirt, he was shocked at the fact that the woman working behind the counter opened the curtain to ask if 'all was O.K'.
4) he thought women were dressed very 'tartilly'
5) being a tall guy weighing 18 stone (115 kilos), he had allways 'stood out' in a crowd, being rather overweight; he was shocked to now find that a lot of people arpund him were the same, if not bigger.
Jeffreys conclusion was that the guy would either go from institution to institution (Ie prison to mental hospital), or more likely would re-offend as soon as he was released, in order to get back into 'the environment he was used to'.
O.K, the guy did something bad, but he paid the price. Isn't there something 'lacking' in the prison service, to lessen the shock of changes after a long term in prison?
The story she was reading (Part of jeffrey archer's diary when in an 'open prison') related to a time when 'Lord' Archer was in the open prison, voluntered to work in the prison hospital.
He saw a prisoner coming back to prison after a day out (part of the rehab process). I can't remember what he had been convicted of, but I'd guess murder since he had been sent to prison in 1969, and in 2004 had 3 or so more years to serve in the open prison.
Jeffrey saw the guy was in some sort of 'daze', and he therefore asked the guy into the hospital, for a cup of coffee and a chat.
It emerged that this 'poor' chap had been into town for the first time in 35 years; he had been 'shell shocked' by various things. These are the salient points for the gut's 'daze'
1) he had never seen a supermarket trolley before.
2) he had never seen a pedestrian crossing, and was scared to go accross thee road
3) he went into a clothes shop, and was asked if he'd like to 'try something on' in case it didn't fit (it was only a shirt) because it was only a shirt, he was shocked at the fact that the woman working behind the counter opened the curtain to ask if 'all was O.K'.
4) he thought women were dressed very 'tartilly'
5) being a tall guy weighing 18 stone (115 kilos), he had allways 'stood out' in a crowd, being rather overweight; he was shocked to now find that a lot of people arpund him were the same, if not bigger.
Jeffreys conclusion was that the guy would either go from institution to institution (Ie prison to mental hospital), or more likely would re-offend as soon as he was released, in order to get back into 'the environment he was used to'.
O.K, the guy did something bad, but he paid the price. Isn't there something 'lacking' in the prison service, to lessen the shock of changes after a long term in prison?
