This unwelcome event has occurred at a time when our country faces the worst economic crisis since the Second World War. There is no money available for the construction of expensive new prisons and many worthwhile schemes to improve the lot of both staff and inmate have had to be postponed or cancelled.
However, this need not be a time for universal woe. The affluent days of the last decade enabled us to increase our stock of resources to build new institutions and to recruit many extra staff. It is possible that it also encouraged waste and if this present crisis enables us to re-examine our tasks and resources with a critical eye then the Prison Service should emerge all the stronger for that examination. Dr Johnson said that the prospect of execution concentrated a man’s mind most wonderfully. It is unlikely that the Prison Service faces that fate but it is to be hoped that we will take this opportunity to concentrate our collective mind on the questions “What are prisons supposed to be doing?” “How can we cope with the increase?” and “Why does the prison population continue to expand?” The answers to these and similar questions may yet prove that our society can solve some of its problems without spending vast sums of money. Many of our resources are under-exploited. The greatest of these is the people, both staff and inmate, who make up our organisation. They have proved how resourceful they can be when faced with intolerable pressure and their talents should be recognised and exploited.
Management theory has much to say on the subject of improving job satisfaction so that the aims of the organisation and the aims of its members coincide. This can only occur if the members are convinced that the organisation’s aims are worthy ones and that their particular contribution is valued by the organisation. To achieve this end does not entail the spending of millions. It does mean that the members of the organisation have to do some hard thinking which may in turn lead to painful decisions. The present crisis gives us the opportunity.
