Rather than questioning why so many of our prisons are inhabited by those from underprivileged backgrounds or with mental health and substance misuse issues and seek out appropriate interventions, I feel that society would often rather lock them away, along with the problem, thus by projecting its corporate 'badness' onto others, frees it from the responsibility of facing its own demons.

'Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people'. Carl Jung.

Many of us, I am sure, have committed the occasional, minor, offence; taking stationery from the office, using the work mobile phone for private calls, fiddling mileage and time-sheets. We may justify this by claiming we are underpaid and undervalued, never-the-less it is still stealing and stealing is a crime. Well, only sometimes it seems. Look at the tax 'evasion' of the wealthy, the MP expenses and the recent 'General for hire' lobbying scandals. We are told these are not really crimes but just watch what happens when a struggling, self-employed plumber is caught trying to 'evade' tax. Or a woman in receipt of benefit doing a bit of 'cash-in-hand' so she can save for a family holiday. I am of the opinion that conveniently we categorise crime according to the status of the person, not the severity of the crime. Even Adam Smallbone, in the TV series 'Rev' who, as a vicar in a poor parish with a small stipend, feels justified in purchasing a non-essential piece of 'bling' at the cost of £900 with money he has taken from church funds. Is that criminal?

Having worked with young male offenders and in mental health communities for over twenty five years my experience has been that the vast majority of those who end-up, locked-up, are the poor and often, though not always, those who are the product of our 'care system'. Even those children and young people who have wonderful foster carers still have unaddressed needs which cannot be met with material possessions or persistent reassurances of love and support. Many act-out their anger and frustration through vandalism and drug and alcohol misuse which in turn often leads to crime. I would also say that the majority of those are incarcerated for petty crime due to the frequency, not the severity, of their actions. It becomes a vicious circle. I use the following case studies as an illustration.

Freddy: mental health issues; unemployed, criminal activity 'in trouble with the police' from early teens. At aged twenty-four Freddy was sentenced to four months in prison after breaking a window in his own flat on discovering his wife was having an affair, no other person was involved. He came out of prison angrier and with further criminal contacts.

Public attitude

Mike: aged eighteen; living rough, accused of rape. The girl's story had changed several times and when Mike said he did not do it we were inclined to believe him. He was placed on remand in a prison at least a one hundred and fifty mile round trip from his home. His parents both had mental health issues, did not drive, could not afford the rail fare so by the time I made my first visit Mike had been inside for over a month and had seen no familiar faces. It was clear he was angry and depressed. I was concerned he was suicidal, I told the duty warden, his reply, 'well he shouldn't have done it then.' Mike was inside for six months until his hearing by jury who took less than fifteen minutes to acquit him. Mike is free and on the outside but he's not free on the inside; he says that once you have been in prison, especially for rape, people think you are guilty but that you just 'got away with it'.

It concerns me that the prison warden, regardless of what his private thoughts may have been, felt free and able to voice his judgement on Mike, to me. It does not take much imagining to guess his attitude and how he may view and or treat others entrusted to his care.

The need to belong

Jack: physically abused by his father, a car mechanic. At aged four Jack was removed from his home and his older siblings and placed in the care of a local authority children's home,. From aged twelve Jack started breaking into then stealing cars but mainly due to the efforts of his excellent social worker was able to remain in his placement. Jack was fascinated by cars. Aged 22, he was living independently and as such no longer had the support of his social worker, he wanted to find his father who, as it turned out, was serving a prison sentence for assault. We often find that children defend the most abusive and violent parents. Jack's criminal activity continued and he was finally given a custodial sentence in the form of Community Service. On his non-attendance, because he had been working on his uncle’s car, so he said, he was imprisoned for three weeks over the Christmas period. We thought, why not just get him a car? Must be cheaper all round. So, we arranged for Jack to earn cash working on vehicles. Eventually with his savings plus some donations he was able to buy a car of his own. The last I heard he was engaged to be married and had not stolen again.

There was a link between Jack's need for cars and the need for his father's acceptance, despite his father's treatment and rejection of him. Once he was trusted to work on other people's vehicles, it seems he internalised that as acceptance and it became the catalyst for change. When a child, or an adult come to that, steals, it is often due to a need for attention or affection and a sense of belonging for which possessions can be an unconscious replacement.

Alan: persistent offender from early childhood; petty thieving and alcohol problems. Sexually abused by a paedophile ring from aged ten years. Aged fourteen, social workers removed him from his home and placed him in a unit for sex offenders as the only local option, and where he was sexually abused and assaulted. On discharge Alan continued criminal activity though through his advocate he was pursuing a claim against that local authority. Aged eighteen, whilst in a young offenders' institution he was gang-raped, resulting in his complete mental breakdown and psychosis. Alan was assessed and placed in a rehabilitation community for the mentally ill, only one of three in the country at the time. It closed through lack of funding when he had been there for six months and as he was settling down. I don't know where he is now.

Good coppers

I do not consider that I live in a deprived area but I know of men, aged thirty-plus who are homeless, sleeping in a 'mate's car', sometimes even a stranger's car or they find a way of getting locked-up just to get bed-and-board, even for one night. Derek was keen to tell me of the best places to sleep rough or park a car at night and of the good coppers who turn a blind eye or give him a hot drink.

Then there is the fear of finding your way in the world when all you have known are institutions. As Jo says, 'prison is the only place I feel safe', when asked why he is inside again.

It is so easy, upon release, to walk straight back into the only life you have ever known, especially when there's no-one to meet you at the gate or the only hope of accommodation is from the list of night shelters you are given as you are released. The government is now considering even removing the £45 cash they are given on discharge. It breaks my heart....

I have only ever worked in and around Essex and these are only a few examples of the dozens of stories I could relate. If this is happening in my local area how many times, I wonder, is it repeated throughout the UK?