British prisons are full – what is the best solution for this problem?

Prisons in the UK have been over 99% full since the start of 2023. Where do new prisoners go, and should prisoners be released early to make space?

Words:

• T.When something is chronic, such as a chronic problem, it means it lasts a long time and frequently comes back.
• The maximum capacity is the amount that something can contain or the ability to perform a particular task.
• A person who attacks and robs someone in a public place is called a mugger in British slang.
• When someone says the pressure eased, it means a situation becomes less difficult.
• Tasks that have piled up and haven’t been dealt with yet is described as a backlog.
• When someone is convicted, they are found guilty of a crime by a judge.
• Sentencing is the legal process of making a decision about a punishment of a convicted person.
• The process of making changes to improve a system, practice, or institution is called reform.
  

Video:

Watch the video from 0:00-1:07.

1. A crowd is a ‘menigte’. What do you think the ‘overcrowding crisis’ in prisons is?

2. Which two arguments did Michael Howard give to support his statement that
‘prison works’ in 1993?

A: It protects people from criminals.
B: It eases the pressure on the courts.
C: It’s a clear system of punishment.
D: It scares off people who might commit a crime.
E: It’s a suitable punishment for the crime committed.

Watch the video from 01:07 – 02:28.

3. Look at the statement. Is it true or false? Explain your answer by giving an
example from the video.

The increase in prison inmates has more to do with the length of prison sentences
than the number of people being arrested.

4. In 2021 the government planned to build 20,000 extra prison places. What
is the status of this plan, and what is the reason for this?

Watch from 2:28 to the end of the video.

5. Based on what you’ve seen in the video, which sentence reflects Prisons Minister
James Timpson’s opinion about prisons best?

A: He has worked with ex-offenders in his key-cutting business for seven years and thinks work is an important part of punishment.
B: He thinks our idea about punishment should change and thinks many prisoners shouldn’t be in prison or shouldn’t be in prison for as long as they are.
C: He thinks prisoners should be released early and given work to reduce the number of prisoners in the prisons.
E: He thinks people are given prison sentences for non-serious crimes and suggests that the law in the UK is changed for certain crimes.

6. Prison sentences have multiple purposes: to punish people for a crime, to scare those considering committing a crime off, to separate dangerous people from the rest of society, and to rehabilitate people so they can re-enter society. Which of these aims do you think is most important?

Van de makers van All Right!, Of Course! en Taalblokken Engels