Outcomes and resettlement
John
I think one of the things about coming to prison in general is your self-confidence hits
rock bottom. So that reflected in my work for the first couple of years. So when you
get an A, and you realise that you can actually work to a good standard, the selfconfidence lifts. It doesn’t lift completely right away, it still takes time, you still need
another couple to verify that you are working to that level. But that was the turning
point, that was part of the process, and the OU gave me that self-confidence.
The likes of creative writing carried on then, and the other things started, submitting
some of the wee stories I’d written into competitions. One of them’s Listowel writing
festival in the Republic of Ireland and Writing in Prisons. And I won it three years in a
row, a couple seconds as well. I’m actually banned from entering it now, ‘cause
you’re only allowed to win three.
You get things like that, your confidence just goes sky-high, you know, you think
you’re capable of anything. It takes awhile, that sense of, that lack of self-worth
because you came to prison and you’ve let yourself down, you’ve let your family
down, you’ve let others down, you know it builds it up.
I remember before my mum died, people would ask. “How’s John doing?”, and there
was never any mention of prison, it was “Oh, he’s doing brilliantly, he’s doing his
degree”, you know, she was very, very proud of the fact that I was doing a degree.
And yes, it was in prison, but I was trying to turn my life around, trying to take a
different direction and not make the same mistakes again. She was proud of that.
And I know I can achieve anything I want to. When I get out I know it’s going to be
very difficult ‘cause I’ve got a life license and a criminal record and things, but if I try I
can achieve them. Whereas before I didn’t try because I didn’t think I could.
I knew the Master’s would be tough. Especially I’ll be starting paroles next year as
well when I’ll be taking part in the Master’s, so I do have those wee niggly doubts.
But all that feedback has said, yeah, I can take this on, take this challenge on and,
you know, and try and raise that higher standard. I’m looking at it as a positive,
because I’ve been watching all the other lads, and when they’re getting out on
paroles you’re going out at the start you go through a programme when you’re doing
a life sentence. So you’re going out accompanied for six hours for a few times, then
for eight. It’s a very long, drawn out process until you’re actually out the gate. So I
notice other lads coming back and they’re very down, because they’ve been out and
experienced the freedom. They’re coming back and they’re coming back into that
environment. And they’ve kind of got their eyes on the next parole in a month. So I
would use the Masters as being able to re-focus me back in here, and I could
concentrate on that rather than look towards the gate all the time.
Trevor, Social Sciences student, HMP Shotts
The end result is that it’s not just to do with the certificate with your name on it and
the letters or anything like that there. It’s the fact that, the sense of achieving
something, and then making my family proud of me, you know. I have four children; I
have a daughter of 26 and me youngest boy’s 15. To then let them say, “Well, me
father’s not just in prison but he’s also got a university degree”, or whatever. I hope
that’s going to break down the barriers. That people will look beyond the prisoner,
me, they’ll see that there is a person there. That, you know, this person didn’t just
wake up one morning and land themselves in jail, he had a life before that, and
unfortunately we take paths in life and there are the right ones and unfortunately I
chose the wrong one. So I’m hoping that with doing the education as well that I’ll be
more employable, that I’ll be more acceptable in the community, and it helps to
rehabilitate me for getting out.
And that, you know, you can sit and have a conversation with somebody, let them
see that you can have a conversation, you can talk about any topic of conversation
that comes up, that you’re just as normal as they are. The unfortunate thing is that
you just have the stigma of being a prisoner.
Education for me, hopefully I’ll be employable, but it will break down the barriers, that
I can hold a conversation with somebody like yourself here today. Years ago even
outside I couldn’t do this. I think this is what the OU has given me.
Tim Kirwan
Having been a reformed offender, working as a reformed offender in the rehabilitation
circuit, I believe quite strongly, vehemently, that we should have a voice. That is
starting to happen, but it’s not at the levels where it should be.
I’ve been out three years now. In that time I was on the labour market for two years,
and I came up, I located a lot of barriers from the Job Centre Plus, who knew, as I
repeatedly told them, I had a criminal offence because certain work would be difficult
for me to attain, so it would be unrealistic for them to steer me down those kind of
avenues.
So I then ended up as a client who started working for this company, and I have
since then opened up my own company. I deliver adult literacy and numeracy. And
basically I’ve sort of found and created my own work. And that’s what I would
encourage anyone to do. If you’re coming out from prison, look at the avenues of
opening up a company that will help or assist you to attain a job. Because I’ve done
that. And although I’m only on part time hours, I do get paid a reasonable wage. It’s
sustainable. People are starting to listen. I’m starting to liaise with different bodies,
organisations, everybody from National Offender Management Service to The Open
University, to the Prisoners Education Trust to the Foundation Training Company,
User Voice, and there are people that are interested in me, and I will go forward and
at some point somebody will offer me a full time job.
You’ve just got to have a belief: it might take a long time, but at the same time you
could be committing crime in a shorter period of time, and going back to prison a lot
quicker. I’ve managed to stay out for three years, and that’s a whole lot longer than
the 12 years I spent in prison, and it’s called freedom. And for a pound note, I’d
rather be free than going back in prison for a pound note.