Short Sentences - Are they really worth it?

Being a 30-year-old woman, having left prison 1 year ago, I would never have imagined that I would be working for the very charity that helped me during my time and after prison…

Imago Dei – ID Essence allowed me to explore my inner negative feelings and turn them into positives, along with the Flourish course, changing my perception on my life and where I wanted to be and allowing me to see a future and breaking the cycle that I had been in for years.

I have been in prison three times, the first for 2 months, and the second for 3 months. By the time I had settled in and got my head round what was happening, it was time to go home, full of confusion, embarrassment and anger. The third (and last) prison sentence that I completed was a 10 month one. It wasn’t until the sixth month that I started to receive help from ID Essence, primarily because I was unaware of the help that they could give and did not know what help I was needing.

“It also made me realise that it is never too late.”

Due to having a much longer sentence than before, it helped me to work through all stages of my emotions; the anger, confusion, sadness, and finally acceptance. It gave me the push, it made me think of what I wanted to get from life. It also made me realise that it is never too late.

So why is it that shorter sentences are still being handed out? Approximately two-thirds of prisoners released after serving a sentence of less than 6 months reoffend within a year. It is argued that this is because short sentences provide little opportunity to rehabilitate an offender and instead focus on a brief punishment, but without the appropriate help are we really shocked at the statistics?

Not only do shorter sentences disrupt family ties, they also disrupt housing, employment, and treatment programmes. Shorter sentences don’t tackle the issues of what the offender may be experiencing or going through. Instead they can be detrimental to mental health without providing any meaningful rehabilitation.

Is there not another way to help, rather than punish someone already going through a stressful time?