Prison work and industries_pdasneves

…some thoughts about PRISON WORK AND INDUSTRIES
Pedro das Neves www.prisonsystems.eu
In-Prison Education for Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Malta: 23th September to 27th September 2013
Waterfront Hotel
Reference Number: MT-2013-668-001

…ME
• 40 years, a son, a daughter and a big dog;
• started in prison when I was 16… dropped-out at
18 and returned at 30…
• board member of QUALIFY JUST/IPS_Innovative
Prison Systems;
• Sociology degree and a MA from the College of
Europe in Bruges;
• undertaking a PhD research on Public Policy;
• lecturer of "Knowledge management and
innovation in public services" at the masters
degree on local governance;
• been a member of the scientific coordinating team
of DEIA - Specialization degree in Organizational
Learning and Innovation at the National Institute of
Public Administration;
• been working on public administration reform
(central and local government) for more than 15
years, and on Prison Innovation Systems (from
2002) in different European countries.
• been coordinating major implementations in
Portugal and Romania, also supporting specific
projects in Catalonia and Germany.
• currently involved in projects in Latin America, in
Portugal, Romania…
• visited and had the opportunity to learn about the
operation of 27 prison systems in 32 European
countries and visit more than 140 prisons.

Creşterea şanselor de incluziune socială a persoanelor aflate în detenţie prin o mai bună educaţie,
informare a societăţii şi îmbunătăţirea activităţilor în penitenciar
6

Social support to basic needs…

…and all the ones that are not aware that the
difference between being inside and outside is very
short.

Prison and
probation
services are
asked to solve…
…what nobody
else is able to
deal with.

Preparing for the possible job…

…in an economy that every day is demanding new
and more complex competencies.

“Building bridges” is the solution…
…complex engineering in which having
good will is not enough.

How do we
deal
with such a
complex
context?

24

25

26
John Godfrey Saxe's ( 1816-1887)
version of the famous Indian legend
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"
The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he,
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging
tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the
Elephant
Is very like a rope!"
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the
right,
And all were in the wrong!

27

28© Pedro das Neves | Qualify Just IT Solutions and Consulting LTD | IPS_Innovative Prison Systems

…AGENDA
…some hints on Prison work and
industries
• Why?
• What?
• How?
• Future opportunities…
…some questions and answers and joint reflection.

…WHY?
In 2009 more than 9.8 million people were held in
penal institutions throughout the world. In the
European Union there are nowadays, more than
700.000 citizens under custody of the prison
service across 2500 prisons.
More than 50% of those are in need of core
rehabilitation interventions to improve its
employability. Approximately 35% are low skilled
needing labour market oriented training and
qualifications. About 15% need skills upgrade in
order to cope with modern production processes
demanded by external companies.”
Everyday, more than 350.000 employees all over
the 27 EU member states work to ensure safety to
society and to provide opportunities to inmates
that will ease their reinsertion process back to
society.

…WHY?
Employment is known to be a key factor in
helping to reduce re‐oﬀending.
Administration of prisons in different countries
aims to provide more prisoners with the skills and
motivation to turn away from crime, improve their
employability, and become productive members
of society.
Main eﬀort is to provide inmates with the chance
to learn the skills need to get a job upon release.
Prison industries seen as “professionalized” prison
work are nowadays at the spotlight in several
European countries.

Prison Industries provide a supporting role to
prison establishments, for the management of
their industrial workshops.
It facilitates and coordinates the in‐house
production and supply of essential clothing and
goods for internal consumption, providing
essential employment for prisoners and
opportunities for them to gain skills, qualiﬁcations
and work experience to improve their
employability prospects upon release.
…WHY?

…WHY?
European reports on prison training for inmates and staff
- ESF Policy Forum in Warsaw; “Prison Management” cycle
of Conferences promoted by the European Institute of
Public Administration in Bratislava; the EQUAL Initiative
conclusion reports “Passport to Freedom”; the
background paper on “Prison Education – Context, trends
and policy issues”; the report of the Gruntvig Budapest
conference “Pathways to Inclusion – Strengthening
European Cooperation in Prison Education and Training”;
the conclusions of the International Corrections and
Prison Association (ICPA) 2010 Knowledge Management
Pre-conference on E-learning and Staff Training; the
European panels of ICPA 2010 and 2011 International
Conference on resettlement of inmates; the Council of
Europe, European Commission, EUROPRIS, the European
Prison Regime Forum and the Berlin Declaration
recommendations on resettlement of ex-offenders -
conclude on the importance of training and work to
sustain effective reinsertion of inmates and reduce high
recidivism rates.

In 2011 in the UK there were over 300 workshops
employing around 10,000 prisoners each week day
in a range of disciplines including producing goods
for the internal market, including complex and
challenging production tasks such as clothing,
window frames, woodwork, oﬃce furniture
manufacturing, plastic injection, moulding,
printing, light engineering and laundries.
A government decision introduced by the Green
Paper “Breaking the cycle”, foresees that 40.000
inmates will be involved in Prison industries by
2014.

Population serving prison sentences is
considerable, and offenders are clearly separated
from the rest of society and subject to a high rate
of failure in their future reintegration into
society.
A large body of research confirms the fact that
this social reintegration is directly linked to re-
entry into the labour market.
Hence the importance of the task assigned to
prison workshops, which fulfil a key role in
providing and maintaining essential work habits.
…WHY?

…WHAT?
Getting out through the front door…

…WHAT?
Prison work is the employment activity
undertaken by persons subject to freedom-
restricting measures.
This work is remunerated and takes place in the
context of a labour organisation managed by the
actual prison service or by some other kind of
private or public-sector business organisation,
with the ultimate goal of facilitating the working
inmates’ reintegration into society.
This employment activity can be undertaken in so-
called prison workshops, spaces equipped for this
purpose within prisons themselves or in external
units run by them.

…WHAT?
These areas, particularly in the more modern
prisons, are laid out as industrial units or real
production units that are physically separate from
the rest of the prison facilities.
They should be properly equipped (in terms of
machinery, tools, furniture, safety equipment,
lighting and ventilation) and are efficiently
distributed into zones that aim to emulate a
standard production or industrial facility outside
prison.

…WHAT?
Human resources that are a key success factor for
these units.
The production processes and infrastructure are
as similar as possible to industries in the outside
world but they differ from other production units
or factories in the sense that they provide
employment and practical vocational training to
people serving prison sentences under what we
might call an “ordinary” regime, i.e. inmates who
are fully imprisoned except for when they are
allowed certain leaves on parole as provided for
by custodial regulations, and until they are put
under a regime of partial imprisonment.

…WHAT?
Way of reducing potentially dangerous
behaviours but mostly as an opportunity to gain
employment skills and to regain or learn the
value of work.
Very often working habits are alien to those
inmates who have never worked as an employee
in a regular employment structure (of their own
volition or because they lack the basic skills), or
they have lost them because it is many years
since they have had any work experience, or they
have simply detached themselves completely
from working life because of long (or intermittent
but frequent) stays in prison.

…WHAT?
Regaining the habits of work discipline and
productivity (vital for successfully holding gainful
employment in the outside world) is a necessary
challenge that must be taken on by the prison
administration.
It is just as important to give prison work the
significance it deserves as an ideal medium for
learning work skills and competencies, a vital add-
on to any prior theoretical training.

…WHAT?
Another advantage deriving from prison work is
the creation of what is known as “social peace”
based on reduced tensions that are part and
parcel of forced, regimental and permanently
controlled cohabitation imposed by the custodial
institution.
This “peace” is, without doubt, born from factors
that go beyond the hoped-for success of
treatment and the necessary regimental order.

…WHAT?
Social peace is born out of covering the basic
needs and interests of inmates, such as:
• having decent means of survival that allows
inmates to cover daily expenses (purchase of
additional food, leisure and hygiene goods
from the prison shop).
• contributing to the expenses generated by a
stay in prison.
• building up a savings fund which he or she can
use on release from prison.
• being able to contribute to family finances.
• being able to contribute to the payment of
specific civil liabilities included in the sentence
(victim compensation, damages, fines).
• demonstrating positive developments in
conduct and fulfilment of the sentence (giving
prison administration confidence to put him or
her under a half-open or open regime).

…WHAT?
Leisure time within a prison, if it is not given any
useful purpose, is confined merely to inactivity
day after day (in communal areas and in cells),
and is one of the most negative effects of
incarceration.
It can have a seriously adverse affect both on
prisoners’ personalities and their chances of
rehabilitation and on their capacity to adapt to
prison life and to comply with the internal
regulations governing discipline and order.
The risk of prisoners breaking the rules or even
the law within the prison itself multiplies.
In the best possible scenario we see an
accentuation of the sensation of the futility of
being locked up in prison and of cases of
depression.

...WHAT?
Prison work is often used – even if unstructured –
as a resource generator for the prison system.
Regardless of this important function, it is crucial
that prison work and industries are structured in
order to obtain the following objectives:
• Provide basic working habits and useful skills
allowing prisoners to compete on an equal
footing in the employment market outside
once they have been transferred to an open
prison or have been finally released.
• Provide financial self-sufficiency during
incarceration for those inmates who have no
other legal means of subsistence, thereby
covering secondary needs (primary needs
being already covered by the prison
administration) of food, clothing and hygiene.

…WHAT?
• Encourage the inmate to face up to his or her
financial obligations, such as paying the civil
liabilities deriving from their crimes, the
obligations imposed as part of the sentence or
penalties, contributing to family finances or
fostering an understanding of the importance
of saving.

Don’t
worry!
Your job is... to do something about it!

_APPROAC
HINGTHE
PRISON
INDUSTRIE
SCONCEPT
The approach proposed by QJ/IPS considers to work on 6 major
dimensions in order to structure prison work and industries:
A. Organisational structure
B. Prison industries market
C. Inmates training
D. Operations
E. Transition
F. Transnationality
Organisational
structure
Prison industries
market
Inmates training Operations
Transition
Transnationality
…HOW?

_APPROAC
HINGTHE
PRISON
INDUSTRIE
SCONCEPT
A. Prepare your organisational structure
• Reﬂect how prison industries can be
implemented in your specific situation.
• Analyse the current status of prison work in
your country.
• Identify the team that will be responsible for
Prison Industries implementation.
• Identify the necessary external partners and
learn from European experience.
• Identify the necessary infrastructure to setup
prison industries facilities in selected prisons.
• Identify existing training projects promoted by
prison administration or prison units that can
support the prison industries implementation.
Organisational
structure
Prison
industries
market
Inmates
training
Operations
Transition
Transnationali
ty
…HOW?

B. Build the prison industries market
• Identify which are the main business sectors
that can benefit from qualiﬁed prison work as
a competitiveness factor.
• Identify potential business opportunities in
business sectors (including governmental
organizations) with whom the prison system
can cooperate.
• Identify potential business partners that can
support the promotion of prison industries.
• Promote prison industries internal production
capacity.
• Explore international cooperation and joint
exports.
Organisational
structure
Prison
industries
market
Inmates
training
Operations
Transition
Transnationali
ty
…HOW?

C. Inmates training
• Identify the necessary skills to be developed.
• Provide the necessary training and
psychosocial support.
• Provide employment advice.
D. Operate inside and outside prisons
• Develop sustainable business concepts in
prison units according to their resources
(human, physical, assets).
• Setup production facilities inside prison.
• Operate the prison industries and promote
them in the national and international market.
• Operate “work in the community”
programmes supporting by electronic
monitoring. Organisational
structure
Prison
industries
market
Inmates
training
Operations
Transition
Transnationali
ty
…HOW?

E. Promote inmate's transition to labour market
• Develop partnerships with local NGO’s or
entrepreneurs organizations.
• Setup a joint social economy enterprise (e.g.
where inmates can continue work for up to 1
year after release
• Provide employment advice
F. Transnationality
• Identify transnational partners that have
implement best practices in this area and
develop knowledge transfer activities
• Identify joint cooperation activities (joint
production and joint marketing)
• Develop the “your approach” to prison
industries, based on country’s specificities and
European best practices.
Organisational
structure
Prison
industries
market
Inmates
training
Operations
Transition
Transnationali
ty
…HOW?

European Social Fund - 2007 to 2013 - the EU
has been investing around €75 billion – close to
10% of the EU budget – on employment-
enhancing projects.
Beneficiaries are varied and include individual
workers, industrial sectors, trade unions, public
administrations or individual firms, but mainly
vulnerable groups of people who have
particular difficulty in finding work or getting
on in their jobs, such as the long-term
unemployed, women, handicapped people,
drug addicts and inmates. It is estimated that
over 9 million individuals are being supported
each year through participation in ESF projects.
The proposal of the European Commission for
the next programming period foresees an
increase in 9 billion euros (75 to 84 billions) in
the overall budget of ESF.
…FUTUREOPPORTUNITIES

Inmates training, staff training,
social reinsertion, employment,
organizational innovation and
transnational cooperation are
keywords of the European Social
policies supported by the
European Social Fund, being this a
strategic financial instrument for
Prison Systems development in
Europe.
…HOW?

57
Problems… obstacles…
needs… and traumas?!...
…the stones I find in my way?
I keep them all.
One day I will build a castle!...
Fernando Pessoa

…QUESTIONS,ANSWERSANDJOINTREFLECTIONS.

…ANDADVERTISINGMOMENT!
www.prisonsystems.eu
References: want some references?... Let me know.

Prison work and industries_pdasneves

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