Irish prisoners are locked up for on average seventeen hours a day, and this routine has not changed in thirty years. So said Eoin Carroll, Advocacy and Social Policy Research Officer in the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice.
The latest report from the Central Statistics Office shows that half of young adults in prison re-offend within three years upon release. Clearly, a different approach is needed. Community programmes allow those who have caused harm to ‘pay back’ for the hurt caused, to make reparation.
The Centre has called on the Government to end ‘severe confinement’ for young adults in prison. Out of fear for their own safety, 100+ young adults (aged 18–24) are spending up to 23 hours a day in their cell. Our latest report, Developing Inside: Transforming Prison for Young Adults recommends that Youth Justice, under the Department of… Read more »
Working Notes is a journal published by the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. The journal focuses on social, economic and theological analysis of Irish society. It has been produced since 1987.
