Lancashire prisons are currently facing problems with overcrowding. We asked people their opinions and what they think might be the causes and best solution for this issue.
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00:06 I've not thought of that because the other bigger prisons are in metropolitan areas aren't they? Yes we have. I think we've got Wymop, Agar and of course Preston. Which is a cat sea prison.
00:18 So them three are all overcrowded at the moment?
00:20 Yes they are and I don't think they have any plans to make any more or build any more. Not in Lancashire anyway.
00:25 Do you think they should build another prison just to help out with the overcrowding?
00:29 If a prison is overcrowded it cannot rehabilitate, it can only punish. There is no opportunity to rehabilitate in an overcrowded prison.
00:38 Because the people who are running that prison, caught caught with the overcrowding. So they cannot rehabilitate people.
00:45 And that's, as far as I'm aware, is what prisons are for. Not just to punish but to rehabilitate. So we need more prisons.
00:55 So do you not think overcrowding is part of the punishment? They've done a wrongdoing so it's kind of part of the consequence?
01:05 Well I don't think the overcrowding is a punishment per se. But what I do think is the overcrowding is acceptable to people who make the policy because they are criminals.
01:17 So how do you feel about three or four Preston prisons being overcrowded? Do you have any opinions, views?
01:24 I'd say I don't really know so much about the extent of the overcrowding. Whether it's a resource issue or part of the actual punishment I would say I'm not too sure.
01:36 I think definitely, even though people are being punished and they are in prison, I do think everyone has a right to their own space.
01:45 I think if it's an issue to the point where people are feeling really anxious and they're struggling to go about their daily lives in prison,
01:52 I think even though it is a punishment, to that extent that is quite stripping of their rights, even as a prisoner.
02:00 Although I do think I'd need to know a little bit more about the extent of how it is first.
02:07 So prisons are full because the population has grown. Decades of population growth throughout the country from migration and natural, not migration, immigration and birth of the population has put pressures on the prison service.
02:26 If you're not building prisons, the percentage of people in prison will increase. Obviously crime rises through desperate people because of the economy and if people under pressure commit more crimes, that's why your prisons are full.
02:46 Do you think overcrowding is technically part of the consequence of people committing crimes at the moment?
02:53 Obviously you commit a crime, you go to prison, but people are being put under pressure because they're out of work, the cost of living is increasing.
03:03 So people are driven to crime, well some people are driven to crime, crime is a lifestyle choice and going to prison doesn't faze them.