Prison service should help prisoners make choices that will make a difference

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams has praised the Prison Radio Association at HMP Brixton as a “wonderful idea”.

He visited the radio station on 20th January 2012 and gave an interview for broadcast. The Archbishop described the radio as something which “gives people the chance to open up their relationships and possibilities” and as “a great gift.”

He added: “I really want to encourage it as much as I can.”

The National Prison Radio Service reaches 40,000 prisoners and aims to educate prisoners, to support rehabilitation and to reduce reoffending.

Countering the perception that prisoners have a limited number of choices to make, Dr. Williams reminded listeners that “moment by moment there are choices that make you a bit more human, a bit less human. A bit more open, a bit less open. A bit more understanding, a bit less understanding.”

Dr. Williams went on to say that the prison service should focus on helping prisoners to make choices that will make a difference, “to help people take more of their own authority, freedom and capacity, and go out with it and do something creative with it.”

In praise of the prison radio service, he said that “one of the great jobs that this radio station does is to remind people they’ve got those choices, they’ve got the capacity to turn things around for themselves bit by bit. It doesn’t happen overnight, but getting those choices right, and getting the vision that helps you along, and getting the friends alongside who really encourage that.”

On the subject of restorative justice, the Archbishop described the process where criminals meet the victim of their crime as a “really important idea”. Giving people the opportunity to see the consequences of what they have done, not in abstract terms, but by being face to face with the person who has been affected by their actions, provides a big “growing point”.

Dr. Williams told the extraordinary story of a couple who had met their son’s murderer, describing the experience as both incredibly painful, but providing a significant breakthrough.

The Archbishop was also asked about whether he felt that religion should be a more significant part of daily life, not only during hardship or crisis. He responded that religion should be considered “more as a long term investment,” offering a way to connect, both with yourself and with God in good and bad times – “connecting to something bigger than you will carry you through the bad times.”

He ended the interview by reemphasising the importance that prisoners seriously consider the choices facing them. “It’s worth it because of who God sees in you, not what your neighbours see, not what society sees, not even what you see, but what God sees in you.”

Archbishop Rowan continued his visit by joining Peter Gibson, Director of Central London Samaritans, HMP Brixton Governor, Edmond Tullett, and Co-ordinating Chaplain, the Revd Phil Chadder, for the presentation of certificates to prisoners who had recently completed a ‘Listener’ training course run by the Samaritans.

Listeners are prisoners who have been trained to listen and provide peer support to prisoners in distress. The Archbishop praised the prisoners who volunteered to be listeners for being willing to take the risk of opening themselves up to someone else’s feelings and being ready to help.