Prisons work with the physical reality of enclosure - that is largely to do with the plain and simple fact that most of the people in them do not come out to bother the general public - the ones who do are the hard done by warders and custodians who work there and who are the real heros of prisons.

Lets face it - criminals get what they deserve- confinement for the safety of the community. Too much time is spent fiddling with the process of that incarceration - when if they had the simple sense to accept - they are their because of their own worst efforts - if anything we are paying too much heed to their "needs" and "expectations" and not enouhg to the needs and expectation of their surviving innocent victims (those on the outside of the prison bars).

So the author claims the prison system is not "open" - well if we did that the buggers would run away and most likely run amok - better it is a closed system - without journalistic oversight - their is a system of review and inspectorates overseeing the process - imperfect maybe - but better than having a bunch of (for example) pro-Corby type writers turning any minor incident into a three ring publicity circus.

It is clear that many people in the ocmmunity who do not understand or have the clear facts as to who fills our prisons. The poor, the mentally ill, women and Indigenous. High majority, if not all, have been victims of crime as well. Prison is a reflection as to what is happening in our own communities. We are in seious trouble then. Prison is about abuse of power and allowing others to get away with criminal behaviour.

Secrecy breeds abuse and if you are happy with that abuse do not complain when people are released and commit more harm in your community. This is not what I want and I sure you do not either.

If we want less crime we need to support all people in our communities not just a token few. Stop the philosophical drive of the us and them - be aware as to how we all paly into this and of course harm others or believe that they are different to us - not human beings.

Prisons do not work they ensure more crime will be committed and if you want to abuse people whilst they are in prison expect the crimes to be more violent.

Why is it that you want prison officers to get away with criminal behavour but want others (those in prison) to be locked away with no voice. Your line of thought does not make sense, considering most women are in prison for non violent crimes.

No one is interested in a 3 ring circus what we are interested in is less crime - the same as you. We are interested in transparency and hoensty.

Media can assist this process by being able to reflect the truth. If we don't know the truth as to what is hapening in prison we obvously believe that people in prison are not human being who deserve there human rigths to be adhered too. scary thought.
DK

It is clear that many people in our community do not understand or have the facts as to who fills our prisons. The poor, the mentally ill, women and Indigenous - thats who. High majority, if not all, have been victims of crime. Prison is a reflection as to what is happening in our own communities so we are in seious trouble. Prison is about abuse of power and allowing others to get away with criminal behaviour.

Secrecy breeds abuse and if you are happy with that do not complain when people are released and commit more harm in our community. This is not what I want and I am sure you do not either.

If we want less crime we need to support all people in our communities not just a token few. Stop the ideological divide of the us and them - be aware as to how we all play into this and of course harm others or believe that they are different to us - not human beings like you and me.

Prisons do not work they ensure more crime is committed - forget the catch phrase of governments of community safety. If you want to abuse people whilst they are in prison expect more crime.

Why is it that you want prison officers to get away with criminal behavour but want others (those in prison) to be locked away with no voice or scrutiny?? Your line of thought does not make sense, considering most women are in prison for non violent crimes.

No one is interested in a 3 ring circus what we are interested in is less crime - the same as you. We are interested in transparency and honesty.

Media can assist this process by being able to reflect the truth. If we don't know the truth as to what is hapening in prison we obviously believe that people in prison are not human being who deserve there human rigths to be adhered too. very scary thought.
DK

Col's line of thought rarely makes sense, except perhaps to those who share his extreme right views of society.

Anybody who knows anything at all about our prison system knows that it simply doesn't work. It is a brutal system with a brutal culture and history that has unfortunately been part of 'Australian' culture since the First Fleet. The majority of contemporary prisoners are either fine defaulters or have been convicted of drug-related crimes, and invariably emerge from prison as much more hardened criminals than when they entered the system. Many of them are mentally ill, certainly by the time they are released.

That incarceration is such a growth industry in this country is an appalling indictment of our legislative, judicial, medical and penal systems. We should be ashamed of ourselves.

Bernie Matthews series of articles on the state of prisons in Queensland should be applauded. The kinds of prisons we have and the ways that prisoners are treated are a direct reflection of the 'outside' society. If there is no justice in prisons, then we cannot expect any on the outside. As Matthews has said it is usually the case of 'out of sight, out of mind' and the lack of transparency and ease of access (by journalists or community volunteers)has exacerbated this in Queensland. It is a sad reflection that most people don't care about prisons until they, or one of their family members, end up in one.

Another great article by someone who knows what they are talking about (Bernie that is). Its not only the first commentators line of thought that doesn't make sense, but the whole Queensland prison system. Do you think that you can say something is working and achieving the goal of community safety when we have to allocate $231 million over the next few years to accommodate all of the "success story's" that get released from Queenslands prisons only to return a short time later.

To say that it is OK to have a system that repeatedly fails the community and establishes a "killing field" within our own backyard makes you wonder who benefits from more and more prison beds? Somebody must be and it isn't prisoners. Wonder who it could be?