The philosphy of rehabilitation in our prisoners
MANY different therapies have been tried and failed in the quest to rehabilitate hardened prison inmates.
It’s safe to say few of these proposed solutions involved ancient Greek philosophers.
But research by a Manchester academic suggests that the breakthrough to tackling ‘macho’ prison culture could lie with philosophical debate and study of the world’s greatest thinkers.
Manchester Metropolitan University researcher, Dr Kirstine Szifris, worked with prisoners at a maximum security jail, giving them regular sessions on Descartes, Aristotle and Plato.
The experience was at times ‘surreal’ she said, as she debated philosophical concepts with some of the UK’s toughest criminals.
The participants in one of her 12-week courses at the maximum security Full Sutton prison in Yorkshire included people sent down for terrorism, gang crime and drug dealing.
In the early weeks of the course former maths teacher Dr Szifris described how she left at the end of the day feeling ‘exhausted and emotionally drained.’
But as the sessions progressed she said the experience of such ‘profound’ debate encouraged trust and cooperation, even among the toughest Category A prisoners.
Her research found that debating philosophical ideas about morality challenged the ‘hyper-masculine survival behaviour’ in the prison.
“Their interactions were characterised by bravado, one-upmanship and competition,” she said.
“It was evident from the outset that these men did not respect each other and that I would have to earn their respect and trust if I was going to attempt to maintain order in the classroom.”
Dangerous prisoners were taken through a series of philosophical problems to illustrate ideas such as Plato’s ideal society, the Stoic philosophy of the Greeks and Romans, and the Socratic method of inquiry.
They were asked to imagine scenarios such as being shipwrecked on a desert island with other survivors and asked how they would create their new society.
She said: “The first half of the course felt like a battle. They could often be aggressive, accusatory and confrontational.
“I sat in the middle of it, attempting to encourage a group of men – including some hyper-masculine, macho characters alongside some of the more pious and calm – to sit in a circle and discuss Kant’s Categorical Imperative and Plato’s notion of Philosopher Kings in a calm and sensible manner. There were moments of surrealism in this.”
Eventually, Dr Szifris said, they learned the benefits of listening rather than trying to out-do each other and after a few weeks their attitude to the classes started to change.
“I’m not an easily intimidated person – I’d worked in difficult schools as a teacher and had confidence in my ability, but somebody who was quieter might have struggled to carry on,” she added.
“Although there were still issues around people failing to listen to each other and being disrespectful in their contributions, the underlying atmosphere had changed.
“The classes became much more manageable and enjoyable.”
“They relaxed, taking the classes for what they were meant to be – a place to engage in open, philosophical conversation.
“The negativity had gone, and the lack of prisoners’ trust in me, the process, or each other, dissipated.”
Prisoners who had taken part said they had learnt tolerance through the sessions, with one saying studying the theory of a ‘just society’ had made them want to ‘turn their life around.’
Dr Szifris, who describes herself as a prison sociologist and criminologist, also taught successfully another group of six vulnerable prisoners at Full Sutton, and 12 prisoners at Grendon Prison in Buckinghamshire. Dr Kirstine Szifris