The MoJ has issued guidance that says guards should use the formal address of "Mister" for at least 12,000 prisoners with learning difficulties such as dyslexia.
This is all the more odd as Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, has attacked as “ridiculous” a ruling that forced guards to call a gang boss serving life for murder “Mr”.
Given that the "learning difficulty" clearly was not enough to dissuade the judge from imprisoning the offender (as opposed to placing him/her in a hospital or freeing him/her), this seems a totally daft idea.
Or am I just a hard hearted, miserable sod with zero compassion?
Formal address should be reserved for those on remand as they haven't up to then been convicted of anything and are presumed innocent. As for convicts, they should be made fully aware of their station.
ReplyDeleteIt is odd. I worked as a forensic psychiatric nurse, in both prisons and forensic psychiatric hospitals, but never did prison staff call inmates Mister, it was always by their surname only; the prisoners always called the staff Sir, Guv, Mam, Miss, Boss orsometimes by Mister Smith etc. In hospitals, including special hospitals, staff do call patients by their first name but these patients enjoy a different type of relationship compared to prisoners.
ReplyDeleteMost patients call the staff by their job title; ie Nurse, Doctor etc but some do call staff by their first name. The atmosphere is completely different in a prison compared to any type of psychiatric hospital whether a secure one or otherwise.
Clarke tried to justify himself by saying "there is no question of requiring staff to address ALL prisoners formally, just those in vulnerable groups".
ReplyDeleteHe didn't tell us whether that inclided nonces in segregation.
So prison guards can label you as a moron in front of other prisoners simply by calling you Mr?
ReplyDeleteHave they really thought this one through?
Many local councils use the terms Mr or Mrs all the time. They refer to each other in public as Mr or Mrs. The demand the public use these terms also. They are fucking arses.
ReplyDeleteJust for fun I have on the phone said, can I speak to Anna - the reply has come back I'll tell Mrs .... you'r eon the phone
Fucking madness - but power/ position/ status is all important to them
Having dyslexia or any other kind of learning difficulties is no excuse or justification for involvment in criminal activity of any sort. In my opinion, when anyone is convicted of a criminal offence they should automatically forfeit certain rights, including the right to be addressed as 'sir' or 'mister'.
ReplyDelete