It's unlikely that, aside from a few hermits, anyone in the UK has escaped at least some of the news about our prisons. But, as people who claim the name of Christian or follower of Christ, how should we respond?
Perhaps we should start with the basics and ask whether the picture of UK prisons we have been given by the press is broadly accurate. Facts are always a good place to begin – do the documentaries and despondent claims connect with the picture painted by the data?
Well, here is some of what we know; between 1993 and 2015 the prison population in England and Wales has nearly doubled to 85,000, with an extra 41,000 people behind bars. In addition, the prison system as a whole has been overcrowded in every year since 1994.
There are also fewer staff looking after this growing number of prisoners. In fact, the number of frontline operational staff employed in the public prison estate has fallen by more than a quarter (26 per cent) in the last six years and there is an overall shortfall of 800 frontline operational staff against target. Serious assaults in prison have more than doubled in the last three years and rates of self-harm are at the highest level ever recorded. There were 36,440 self-harm incidents in the year to June 2016– a 52 per cent rise in just two years.
These are just a few of statistics published by the Prison Reform Trust that have painted a similar picture for quite a while now. Personally, I find it very difficult to find anything in this information that is not deeply troubling. So, to answer our question – yes, the state of our prisons is disturbing. Many would say the current situation is the unavoidable product of years of increasing prisoner numbers together with decreasing finance. They would add the resulting problems were both widely predicted and an inevitable result of fewer and fewer staff looking after more and more prisoners.
However: we should not deny the truth of today's reality, but equally, casting blame and gnashing our teeth will not help prisoners suffering these conditions or support the staff and volunteers committed to helping them. Some are indeed called to lobby and fight for social reform, but what of the rest of us?
If we are to call ourselves followers of Christ, there are two responses we must make. The first is to genuinely love those who have been caught in criminality. For those who have been the victims of crime this can be a painful challenge. Those who have hurt us or our loved ones may seem like our enemies. But God tells us to love regardless. In fact, Matthew 6: 14-15 really puts us to the test, telling us that our own forgiveness is conditional on forgiving others. The sweet-sounding recital of the Lord 's Prayer has a tough edge when we listen to its words carefully.
Christ was known on earth, and criticised by polite society, for mixing with people like criminals, whom others shunned. The Church must truly learn to see every human being as the image of God they are, and love freely as Christ loves us.
Second, there is a call in Matthew 25 to feed the hungry, clothe those in need, look after the sick and visit prisoners. This passage couldn't be clearer in three respects: God is concerned with people's human physical suffering, we must help others in their distress and, perhaps most profoundly, there are those who believe they are Christ's who will be turned away because they have ignored those in need.
You may be reading this and, in truth, there is a gap in your compassion. Perhaps you don't see prisoners as vulnerable and in need of love and care. Perhaps you have been hurt or struggle to see beyond the tabloid picture of those in jail as scary monsters. I would encourage you to do two things. Firstly, let's look at just a few more facts – who are the people in our prisons today? Forty-seven per cent have no qualifications, 68 per cent were unemployed before entering prison, 46 per cent have attempted suicide and 41 per cent observed violence in the home as a child. Understanding a little more about what can lead people to prison can help build our compassion.
Personally, I also find I must pray and ask God to help me see each person I meet as equal in God's sight and worthy of respect and dignity. Most of us struggle from time to time with this and we need to fight to empty our hearts of prejudice and allow God to fill them again with His love. As Christians, we say that we believe every person in humanity stands equally before God, redeemed only by Christ's sacrifice on the cross. But do we really believe that? Or deep down do we sometimes write off certain groups of people based on our own preconceptions or disdain?
Lastly, what is our response to the challenge of Matthew 25? There are so many ways to respond, but the humbling picture of the separation of the sheep and goats leaves little room for paying no heed.
There are many voluntary organisations like Prison Fellowship doing amazing work in prisons, joining with chaplains and staff to pray for and support prisoners. In Prison Fellowship we believe that no one is beyond hope and our mission is a simple one; to show Christ's love to prisoners by coming alongside them and supporting them.
God says, 'I am poor, broken, displaced and in prison and if you want to meet me face to face, that's where you will find me.' What could be more exciting than reaching out a helping hand and finding Christ looking back?
Peter Holloway is chief executive officer of Prison Fellowship, England and Wales.
