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Case Study 1 - Maria
Maria is in her early thirties, attractive and vivacious, her appearance hides a traumatic last few years. Maria is Columbian and was brought up in a glamorous, South American world in England.
She was married at 16 and by the mid-90s, Maria's world hit rock bottom. Faced with what seemed like an insurmountable mountain of debt, a bad relationship and with battered confidence - she turned to crime as a way out of her problems.
"I went to prison for two reasons," says Maria." Debt and lack of self-esteem."
"I felt as if my whole world was falling in on me and didn't know how to cope," explains the mother of one from West London. "I was introduced to some people who said I could earn some easy money by small-time drug dealing. They made it sound simple and harmless. I just wasn't thinking straight."
Ever more isolated, Maria became increasingly embroiled in a world of drugs and crime and was eventually jailed for drug dealing, leaving behind a young son.
"When I was sentenced to eight years in prison for supplying drugs, I wondered how I'd cope. Every time I saw my boy, I could feel him slipping away from me. He was growing up so quickly. To make matters worse, I was transferred to three different prisons, which made visiting difficult. So instead, I'd write him poems and letters and send pictures so he'd never forget me. The other women inside felt the same way. It didn't matter whether they were prostitutes, thieves or drug dealers - they never stopped being mums. Birthdays and Mother's Day were the worst. Uncontrollable sobs would echo through the corridors - no wonder so many women tried to kill themselves."
"When I was finally released after four and a half years, finding work was difficult because of my criminal record. My mum had kept my house going so I had somewhere to move into, but my son stayed with her. He was scared of getting close to me in case I went away again. My coming back had a detrimental effect on him and he didn't perform well in his GCSE's. Since then, he's been finding life difficult."
Now free, Maria has little faith in prison's ability to change behaviour.
"I know I did wrong and deserved to be punished. But prison did not teach me to be a better person. I went in frightened and isolated, needing guidance and support. Instead I became more isolated and frightened and even less able to cope. I was more in debt when I left than when I went in and my son lost his mother for four years. What was that supposed to achieve?"
On release, despite finding it really difficult to start again as many offenders do due to having a criminal record,Maria has worked with women prisoners trying to resettle them into the community, she saw her own experiences reflecting in theirs over and over again.
She has also run a youth inclusion programme in South London, working with young people to stop them getting into crime and is now trying to start her own business. She also does talks for SmartJustice on prison and crime in schools and to a range of community groups.
Questions for discussion:
1) What do you think Maria's experience of prison achieved?
2) Do you think there could have been a better way of punishing her and getting her to face up to what she did?
3) How do you think her son felt about his mum going to prison?
4) The current Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 enables some criminal convictions to be ignored (spent) after a rehabilitation period. For adults, the rehabilitation period is 5 years for most non-custodial sentences, 7 years for prison sentences of up to 6 months, and 10 years for prison sentences of between 6 and 30 months. For a young offender (under 18) the rehabilitation period is generally half that for adults. Prison sentences of more than two and a half years can never be spent. So Maria will have a criminal record for the rest of her life. Do you think this is fair?
Maria is in her early thirties, attractive and vivacious, her appearance hides a traumatic last few years. Maria is Columbian and was brought up in a glamorous, South American world in England.
She was married at 16 and by the mid-90s, Maria's world hit rock bottom. Faced with what seemed like an insurmountable mountain of debt, a bad relationship and with battered confidence - she turned to crime as a way out of her problems.
"I went to prison for two reasons," says Maria." Debt and lack of self-esteem."
"I felt as if my whole world was falling in on me and didn't know how to cope," explains the mother of one from West London. "I was introduced to some people who said I could earn some easy money by small-time drug dealing. They made it sound simple and harmless. I just wasn't thinking straight."
Ever more isolated, Maria became increasingly embroiled in a world of drugs and crime and was eventually jailed for drug dealing, leaving behind a young son.
"When I was sentenced to eight years in prison for supplying drugs, I wondered how I'd cope. Every time I saw my boy, I could feel him slipping away from me. He was growing up so quickly. To make matters worse, I was transferred to three different prisons, which made visiting difficult. So instead, I'd write him poems and letters and send pictures so he'd never forget me. The other women inside felt the same way. It didn't matter whether they were prostitutes, thieves or drug dealers - they never stopped being mums. Birthdays and Mother's Day were the worst. Uncontrollable sobs would echo through the corridors - no wonder so many women tried to kill themselves."
"When I was finally released after four and a half years, finding work was difficult because of my criminal record. My mum had kept my house going so I had somewhere to move into, but my son stayed with her. He was scared of getting close to me in case I went away again. My coming back had a detrimental effect on him and he didn't perform well in his GCSE's. Since then, he's been finding life difficult."
Now free, Maria has little faith in prison's ability to change behaviour.
"I know I did wrong and deserved to be punished. But prison did not teach me to be a better person. I went in frightened and isolated, needing guidance and support. Instead I became more isolated and frightened and even less able to cope. I was more in debt when I left than when I went in and my son lost his mother for four years. What was that supposed to achieve?"
On release, despite finding it really difficult to start again as many offenders do due to having a criminal record,Maria has worked with women prisoners trying to resettle them into the community, she saw her own experiences reflecting in theirs over and over again.
She has also run a youth inclusion programme in South London, working with young people to stop them getting into crime and is now trying to start her own business. She also does talks for SmartJustice on prison and crime in schools and to a range of community groups.
Questions for discussion:
1) What do you think Maria's experience of prison achieved?
2) Do you think there could have been a better way of punishing her and getting her to face up to what she did?
3) How do you think her son felt about his mum going to prison?
4) The current Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 enables some criminal convictions to be ignored (spent) after a rehabilitation period. For adults, the rehabilitation period is 5 years for most non-custodial sentences, 7 years for prison sentences of up to 6 months, and 10 years for prison sentences of between 6 and 30 months. For a young offender (under 18) the rehabilitation period is generally half that for adults. Prison sentences of more than two and a half years can never be spent. So Maria will have a criminal record for the rest of her life. Do you think this is fair?
