As another year draws to a close, it should be a time to reflect on how we have responded to the needs of people, the most vital component of our very lives. Blending into society as individuals , we are aware to some degree of the basic human needs of the disabled, refugees, unemployed and the homeless, especially women with children escaping domestic violence, and we respond accordingly.
However, mostly overlooked, is our prison system ,which has recently been brought to our attention by the media revealing the harsh treatment of the youthful inmates in a NT juvenile detention centre which, like other prisons, is out-of-sight and out-of-mind, for most people. Surely, confining a prison inmate to an isolation cell, sometimes up to 23 hours, for some infringement of prison rules, must cause great harm to the mental well-being of those subjected to such an inhumane act.
For the benefit of all , is it not time to review the role of prisons in our society, with greater emphasis on rehabilitation and less fixation on containment?
Keith McEwan, CLA member, Bonython ACT