People in prison need not always be defined by their offending but rather by who they are and what they could become . . . Photo: Photo: x1klima / flickr CC
Thought for the Week: Our common humanity
Kimmett Edgar and Juliet Lyon consider the common bonds between us
by Kimmett Edgar and Juliet Lyon
23rd November 2012
Prisons Week is a reminder of the common bonds between us and people in prison. The populist news media bombard us with the message that people in prison are dangerous, a threat to society and beyond redemption. Scaremongering by some politicians increases the erosive and damaging fear of crime that tempts us into ‘out of sight, out of mind’ punitive attitudes towards people in prison. Our common humanity is distorted by such fears.
