FRENCH CIVILISATION

MAD, BAD AND SAD - PRISONS IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE

Introduced by Dr Dorothy Speed on 15 March 1999

When Dr Speed visited and reported on Violence in French Prisons under a Council of Europe Fellowship in 1973, the prevailing view in France was that prison was for punishment (whereas here it has for a long time been seen as being both for retribution and for rehabilitation through training and treatment). As a result, the main concern in French prisons was security: to avoid escapes, usually by cellular confinement - one of the root causes (together with the squalid conditions, lack of radios, no open visits, few possibilities for association, no recognition of psychopathic disorder as a special category, and lack of medical help) of the many outbursts of violence and growing numbers of suicides. Since
then there have been major reforms, treatment of prisoners began to take precedence over punishment and such things as probationary suspended sentences were introduced.

There are many differences in executive and operational matters between England and France. In France, the Minister of Justice has been responsible for prison administration since 1911 , whereas previously it was the Mimistere de l'Interior (Home Office). L'Administration Penitentiaire (Prison Department) is run by the Judiciary. Prison Governors are accountable to lawyers at HQ for all operational matters and have very little discretion in management of prisons, bar maintaining security and discipline. This leaves them feeling very isolated and reinforces their perception of low status in their role as `turn-keys' to enforce punishment. A Juge d'Application des Peines (JAP) attached to every prison deals with parole (libération conditionnelle), home leaves, probation release for social rehabilitation (insértion), sentence planning, community service. Following consultation with prison staff, almost on a daily basis, the JAP also deals with individual prisoners' complaints, adjudications for breaches of discipline and meting out punishment, i.e. loss of privileges, loss of remission, segregation, etc.

On the other hand, in England and Wales, the Governor's delegated authority via the Prison Boards (appointed by the Home Secretary and responsible for the Prison Department) establishes the overall ethos of his penal institution with training and treatment `to encourage and assist his charges to lead a good and useful life'. The Governor is responsible for the prisoner's regime: home leave, adjudications, sentence planning, while the Board of Visitors deals with complaints and more serious breaches of prison discipline.

The Parole Board, appointed by the Home Secretary, reviews all prisoners eligible for release on licence, who are then under the statutory supervision of the Probation Service and are liable to recall if they re-offend whilst on licence. For lifers (mandatory and discretionary) the Parole Board, whose members have relevant qualifications, make a complex risk assessment based on dossiers compiled by prison staff, for the protection of the public. For those with sentences of 4-7 years released on parole, under 10% are reconvicted during the first six months (compared to 30% of non-parolees); two years after release, the figures are 35% of parolees compared to 55.6% of non-parolees. Latest figures ( 1997-8) show the rate of recall of parolees to custody for committing another offence was under 4%.

In terms of prison population, the daily average in France is about 60 000 of whom approximately a third are sentenced (détenus) and two thirds on remand (prévenus), the latter sometimes up to three years in custody. The reason for this is the inquisitorial system used by the Juge d'Instruction (the examining magistrate , always a qualified lawyer) which can be a lengthy process. In England the daily average population is about 62,000 with a third on remand, sometimes up to a year awaiting trial, and two thirds sentenced, giving us one of the highest prison populations in Europe. Our Magistrates' Courts are normally staffed by lay magistrates (JPs). A legally qualified Clerk of the Court guides the magistrates in sentencing according to the charge, e.g. conditional discharge, fine, probation and short sentences, and/or committal for trial to Crown Court for serious offences (e.g. armed robbery, murder, rape etc.).

The health and welfare of a prisoner in France are not the responsibility of the Penal Administration alone, but also that of the medical profession and the Ministry of Health. It is a collective responsibility. In this country a full-time Prison Medical Service and Probation Service are accountable to the Home Office's Prison Department. In France, the mentally ill offenders are usually transferred at the remand stage for treatment; the category `psychopathic disorder' as defined under our Mental Health Act 1983 does not exist in France and consequently three special prisons have been designated to manage this difficult disruptive sentenced group (called `bad' rather than `mad'). This enables the mix of `bad' and `sad' sentenced prisoners to comply with the pragmatic and strict regimes: sentenced prisoners start with nothing and all privileges have to be earned through their own endeavours, going back to square one and losing all privileges (e.g. association, visits, radio) should they break the rules - on the snakes and ladders principle! In England it is becoming increasingly difficult to accommodate the `mad'/psychopathic prisoner in special hospitals or secure units _ only the mentally ill (psychotics) are considered for medical treatment if found unfit to plead or of diminished responsibility at trial. The resultant overload of psychopaths in the prison, mixed in with the `bad', make for unstable conditions for the `sad' inadequate prisoners who are easily led into riots and `sit downs'. Consequently the regimes become stricter to prevent escapes and inhibit rehabilitation.

Finally, two memorable impressions of French prisons _ one at Santé prison, in Paris, was the daily distribution of cider hauled up in baskets to the top galleries for individual allocation, and the remarkable collection of knives in the prison kitchen for jointing and cutting up whole carcasses of beef and lamb, with only milk and sugar under lock and key! The other, at Fleury Metogis, the most modern electronically controlled prison, where fear of escapes required each man to remove his trousers at lock-up at 5 p.m. and place them outside his cell door.
Notwithstanding the squalor and degradation in prisons, good food and strict discipline appear to maintain better control and security in French penal institutions.

Anne Whitmarsh