Like a fly in amber sometimes prisoners get frozen in time when they get a lengthy sentence. When that happens you get the mismatch of having young heads on old shoulders.
Young Heads on Old Shoulders
A few years ago I was so fortunate to meet Michael Darlow at a Penned Up Arts 7 Literature festival that had been organised by David Kendall. The BAFTA award winning Mr Darlow enjoyed a long and successful career in TV production and his credits included the ‘World at War’ series and the 1969 documentary featuring Johnny Cash’s concert in San Quentin prison.
Knowing that I was going to be interviewing Mr Darlow I watched the documentary a few times and there was a quote from the Head Warden of San Quentin that resonated with me. Back in 1969 he spoke about the new arrivals at the worst prison in the US and how each had a coping strategy that they used. He mentioned prisoners that would use any opportunity to scream at the screws – to be confrontational whenever they could. The strategy was to appear tough to other prisoners or to demonstrate that they were on the prisoners’ side against authority.
For a long time in my sentence I wondered what some lads got out of screaming at the Kangas, but this documentary made sense of that for me. Generally a prisoner can scream at a member of staff in relative safety. They will likely face a period of time in the segregation unit and lose some privileges, but they are unlikely to come to any real physical harm. At worst they will be be controlled and restrained (C&R) and face adjudication in front of a governor. On the other hand, if one of these lads decides to start screaming and being abusive to another prisoner the chances are that there will be a physical reckoning – somebody will be getting a hiding.
So the safe option is to make a scene and kick off where the chances of a physical altercation are minimised. This happened in San Quentin in 1969 and is still happening fifty years later in British Prisons. Arguable, it is more prevalent today for two principle reasons. First, the modern prison officer is far more tolerant than his counterpart from fifty years ago. Second, there are increasing numbers of youngsters coming to prison for long sentences – and they are terrified – they are trying to put on a show.
My prison started life as a long term and lifer prison. Generally you have stable populations that are used to the prison regime. Lifers, once settled, generally got on with their sentence and there is little or no drama. Problems start to arise when determinate sentenced or fixed term prisoners come into the equation. These lads have a set release date. The worst that the prison can do is ‘add days’ to the servable part of their sentence if they commit any major infractions, but baring disaster they will get out the gate on or around their release date. On the other hand, if a lifer acts out they are likely to be denied parole – it could easily lead to a two-year knock back. There have been instances where a fixed term prisoner has been selective in targeting a lifer, knowing that they have a hell of a lot to lose.
In my experience, the calmest and safest place in a prison is ironically in a room or on a wing full of lifers.
But two years ago, as if the lifer vs fixed term wasn’t enough, we were told that our prison would be taking a small number of YO’s (Youth Offenders – adults aged 18 but under 21) who had ties to the local community so that they could maintain family ties. Well there was uproar. The YO’s would be a nightmare. They would act up and cause disturbances. They would target and pick fights with long-term prisoners who had a lot to lose if they fought back. It would be total carnage.
‘What’s the difference?” I asked.
“?” replied the group of lads.
“I mean, what’s the problem with YO’s coming here? Just think about it. We already have a shed load of YO’s here – the only difference is that they’re in their 30’s or 40’s”
I listed some examples of lads that were well known around the prison – the shouters, smashers-up and protestors. Whenever the jail was put on lockdown it would be one of a small group of usual suspects that had started a fire or climbed up on a roof somewhere. A newcomer to prison might at first glance be surprised to see a middle aged man stamping their feet and swearing in a tantrum – but to understand that man’s motivations, one must walk a mile in the moccasins of said stomping feet.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of men in the UK prison system that have spent decades behind bars – many received life sentences in their teens. I know one lad in particular that was “lifed off” at 16 years old. He is in his 30’s now and balding, and generally he does ok. But when things start to go wrong he suddenly becomes that 16 year old kid again. He has spent his formative years in a bubble and the development of his coping skills and maturity have been stunted.
As I predicted, when the YO’s did arrive they were neither more nor less disruptive than the general workaday prisoner.
So fifty years after Michael Darlow went to San Quentin the same things are happening in our prisons. I’ll wager that in another 50 years it will still be the same. Today I see how you don’t have to be 16 to behave like a child. There are old men in here that prove you can put a young head on old shoulders. Locking up teenagers for 20 or 30 years is merely kicking the can down the road – the next generation will have to face them when they are released back into a society older, not necessarily wiser but certainly more embittered.
