Jail party photos horrify minister

AdelaideNow... Jail party photos horrify minister: "'It's really important for people who offend to have an opportunity to be real people,' he said."

They are being punished. They are not on the outside and they are with men all the time. People become criminals for all sorts of reasons and as horrible as their crimes might be you can usually see why they ended up like that. It is very complex. To undo that kind of damage you have to deal with it in a complex way. If you do not humanise people and bring out their gentler, kinder side, if you do not try and get them in touch with their emotions and self, how can you get them to be people who will succeed in the community when they are released? Maybe because their treatment is harsh they become even harder and are then beyond help.Of course the messages to them need to be strong...but they also need to engage in normal behaviour. So who's the expert? Who spends time with these prisoners? Who is there day in day out? What are our objectives? If we don't want to better them, then why have we imprisoned them? Might as well just get rid of them. You do not learn to be human by being treated harshly. There are plenty of examples of that around to know it's true. Di Cooper is with the prisoners and she has a duty of care to them , her colleagues and eventually to us as a community. She is trying to create some positive change. It may well be a waste of time, but at least she is doing something. Quite frankly, I want people to come out of prison and no longer be a threat to me. I say, so what it takes...and if feathers and boas do it...go for it.