Our prisons have a fatalistic tolerance of drugs
Dame Anne Owers, publishing her seventh prison inspection report at the end of last month, fired warning shots about almost every aspect of our prison system. Her findings, alarming but recurrent, once again expose the inadequacies of prison policy. The stark conclusion that government continues to fail to tackle drugs in prison is one of the most concerning.
The prison drugs trade, valued at a staggering annual £100 million by the former head of treatment policy at NOMS, is rife. So deeply saturated is the system that prisoners, such as a recent recovering heroin addict, are desperately attempting to flee custody and avoid their inevitable relapse.
Scottish Executive show courage on tackling alcohol addiction
This week, the Scottish Government published their
strategy for tackling alcohol abuse.
Central to this is the proposal to establish a minimum price per
unit of alcohol. This would be accompanied by a ban on
‘irresponsible promotions’ and legislating for a Social
Responsibility Fee.
Such pro-activity should be commended. Addiction – both drug
and alcohol – is a
key driver of poverty. It is also a key driver of crime, violence
and anti-social behaviour. Directly and indirectly, it ruins
lives, families and communities.
In the News!
A programme in Lambeth is successfully using peer counselling to steer young people away from gangs. The development by Lambeth council of the 2 XL programme, which uses leadership training along with one to one therapy to encourage young people to change their lifestyle, aims to tackle the problem of reoffending.
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full, click here
Move over Granny, the Super Nanny state is here
The
controversial Channel 4 “Boys
and Girls Alone” programme aired this week
conducting a ‘social experiment’ to see how children apart from
their families would cope without any adult
supervision.
But there is evidence of a growing curiosity about children’s
ability to cope without family care when it is available. The
Channel 4 team are not the only ones conducting a massive social
experiment.
This week, for example, the Institute for Education
reported that children cared for by
grandparents faired worse than those in professional childcare.
Assessed on ability to perform in tests, children cared for by
their extended family were considered backwards and
damaged.
School discipline is the tool not the craftsman
The
education pages have been filled this week with stories drawn
from the latest Ofsted
report: the transformation of schools through
‘back-to-basics’
discipline and targeted
exclusions. While discipline will help, what really matters is
the headteachers.
Formal discipline does have a role to play in turning round
schools. It establishes that the school does not operate by the
rules of the street; and that everyone is equal, subject to the
same rules properly enforced. Children at the Robert Clack school
agreed, saying the school was a success “because the rules were
enforced”. Targeted exclusions are also necessary, both as a
consequence of clear rules being applied consistently, but also
because they remove unruly children from situations which profit
neither them nor their classmates.
In the News!
Government aims high with diversity targets – Guardian 19/6/09
Harriet Harman tells public sector employers to stop 'fishing in same pool' and increase representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people on the payroll. By 2011, the government wants 50% of appointments to be women, 14% to be disabled people and 11% to be from an ethnic minority background. Harman claims that diversity is necessary to ensure decisions are made by people with wide experience of life.To read the article in full, click here
In the News!
Tory MP Tobias Ellwood attacked after confronting Bournemouth gang – Guardian 21/6/09
The
former army officer was taken to hospital with hearing damage
after attempting to put a stop to disruptive gang
behaviour. I want case to go to trial, says
Bournemouth East MP.
To read the article in full,
click
here
In the News!
Worldwide production of heroin and cocaine falling, says UN drug chief – Guardian 24/6/09
The UN is calling for the treatment of drug
problems as an illness, not a crime. Antonio Maria Costa,
director of the UNODC, claims that "People who take drugs need
medical help, not criminal retribution." The continuing challenge
of monitoring and addressing the problems of drug production
needs to focus on traffickers.
To read the article in full, click
here
In the News!
£1m asylum return scheme helped one family – Guardian 24/6/09
Children's Society says project was a
failed opportunity to deal with 2,000 children locked up in
immigration centres. Despite the ‘good intentions’ of the
scheme, which aimed to help keep families out of asylum centres,
only one family successfully returned
home.
To read the article in full,
click here
In the News!
Why frontline childcare workers are the unsung heroes
Residential staff and family social workers
deserve more credit for the contribution they make to the lives
of many of our vulnerable young people. Rather than taking
responsibility for our failure, it is argued that we too often
blame the staff or their managers.
To read the article in full, click here
