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A former inmate turned prison reform advocate, has commended Guernsey’s approach to incarceration after visiting the island.
Paula Harriott is the Head of Prisoner Involvement at the Prison Reform Trust, a group of campaigners who champion rehabilitation over punishment. She came to Guernsey to speak about ‘lived experience’ after spending four years in prison for drug possession.
Paula was brought to Guernsey and Jersey by the Lloyds Bank Foundation to present at two seminars. The Foundation donates money to various charities in the Channel Islands.
She spoke about her personal experience as a prisoner and the work she has done through the Prison Reform Trust.
“True social change comes from embracing the value of lived experience and weaving that into meaningful and inclusive community collaboration,” she said.
“Failure to do this can lead to replicating or making existing inequalities worse as we do not bring together sufficient diversity of thought and insight to the oft intractable challenges facing us as a community.”
Pictured: Left to right - Johanna Le Poidevin, Executive Director Lloyds Bank Foundation; Paul Harriott; Emma Beeston, Consultant Philanthropy Advisor and Philippa Stalin, Chair of Lloyds Bank Foundation.
Paula works in the UK prison system and, after speaking to prisoners and prison guards in both Guernsey and Jersey, welcomed the differences between the Channel Island approach to incarceration compared to the mainland.
“In Guernsey and Jersey, I noticed the system is very different. I came away thinking ‘wow… I wish we had this in the UK,” she said.
“There’s a real focus in the prison [in Guernsey specifically] on rehabilitation. If a prison system has rehabilitation at its core then it has purpose.
“Sadly, in the UK the prison is overwhelmed with a lack of resourcing and overcrowding.”
Pictured: Paula visited Les Nicolles while she was in Guernsey.
Paula said there were several things she saw in Guernsey and Jersey that she would like to take back to the UK, including an active emphasis on developing family and couple therapeutic environments - spaces for families to spend time together in the prison: “Those are ‘nice-to-haves’ in the UK”.
Former inmates in the Channel Islands face different challenges to their counterparts in the UK, including the inability to become “invisible” in the community post-conviction.
However, Paula said this isn’t necessarily a bad thing: “These are small communities but that has some benefits.
“I learnt at the prison today of the interconnectivity of families. Prison officers have better relationships with prisoners because they know their families.
“One guard told me: ‘I can’t walk down the street without knowing five or six former prisoners’. Those close relationships can be used in a positive way.”
You can listen to the full interview with Paula ONLINE.
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