Joe Sim on reforming prisoners through a compassionate philosophy, Malcolm Fowler on the sensory memories of his prison visits, and Sue Beaumont on the demoralising effect of stepping inside a jail
Before modernising prisons through new architecture, as discussed by Yvonne Jewkes, there are other issues to consider (‘Places to heal, not to harm’: why brutal prison design kills off hope, 24 September). There are examples of places that have radically transformed prisoners that have not relied on architecture.
For many prison campaigners, the Barlinnie special unit, before it was closed, was the most important innovation in British prisons in the last 50 years. When I visited the unit, it was located in the former women’s wing of the main prison. So it was not specifically designed by architects for changing prisoners who were pejoratively labelled as the most violent in Scotland. Yet it succeeded, not because of the architecture, but because of its compassionate philosophy that staff and prisoners, working together, practised on a daily basis.
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