The history of ‘Porridge’

When I am asked what television documentary portrays our prison system with the most accuracy, my answer always takes them by surprise. With no shadow of a doubt, the best documentary, which is not even a documentary, is the 1970s sit-com, Porridge. I’ve yet to see its accurate portrayal of prison surpassed. Don’t just take …

Why my message is clear! – #WhatCanBe

My hobby, and other passion, as an organised crime historian, began whilst I was still a child, many years ago. It was a passion that became a dream which became a goal. Because of the power and beauty of the education I received as a resident in many of our majesty's detention centres, youth custody …

Castle Huntly revisited

In A reflection of Perth et al. I detailed the history of HMP Perth in Scotland. In this blog, I will look back at the history of HMP Castle Huntly, which among other uses over several centuries was a former probationary school for girls, a borstal for boys and a young offenders' institution. In 1452, during …

Why did I choose to go on hunger strike?

*TRIGGER WARNING* - I discuss mental health and suicide in this blog. In a comment to a post, I replied with the following: "Knowing oneself is a powerful feeling. Doesn't mean life gets any easier but it allows you to appreciate it more. The negatives in life, I've found anyway, only have longevity if you …

Rehabilitation is an attitude

I wrote a post earlier today which can be seen below as it is one that indirectly brought the term rehabilitation to the forefront of my thoughts once again. '#labels. Our priorities change as our years progress and I'm sure there's no need for me to list examples. #parenthood Over the last three years I …

The Library

I honestly cannot recall meeting a bad librarian in a prison library. Then again, or one in the community. I’ve met strict librarians, but then, it was a prison library and some form of control was needed. However, librarians, especially ones who work in prison are worth their weight in gold. Imagine if a doctor’s …

In-career-ceration

I recently read an article about prison and prisoners of which I don't want to say I was shocked or surprised by because that would be the wrong choice of wording to use. I suppose the best description, and I'm going back on myself slightly, would be that the article left me feeling pleasantly surprised. …

A reflection of Perth et al.

To celebrate becoming a director on the board of Starting Step I wanted to do, as such anyway, something a little different. I decided to do what I usually do and take a look back at one of the prisons with whom Starting Step will initially be working. It is slightly different as, although reflections …

Change the headlines!

I believe, that in order to change the misconceptions and negative perspectives, of which society has many in relation to our criminal justice system, we need to change the headlines. I was taken aback this weekend when I went to double check my spelling of a name before commenting on a related post on LinkedIn. …

Perspectives

Moral Panic Theory Or as I like to call it Media Hype Frenzy. Please take a moment to allow your mind to bring to its front our criminal justice system, although once I have finished you may see things differently in respect of how you see or even read things. The concept of moral panic …