Quarterly Commentary
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5002300101 |
| Published date | 01 January 1950 |
| Date | 01 January 1950 |
| Subject Matter | Quarterly Commentary |
POLICE JOURNAL
VOL.
XXIII, No.
I.
JANUARY-~ARCH,
1950
Quarterly Commentary
THE
SCOTTISH PRISON SYSTEM
THE Report by
the
Scottish Advisory Council on
the
Treatment
and
Rehabilitation of Offenders issued by
the
Scottish
Home
Department was issued against a background somewhat different to
the
prison system in England in
that
conditions operating in prisons
north
of
the
border are, we understand, harsher than those operating here.
The
Committee, set up in
1944,
had already issued reports on a number
of subjects affecting the treatment of offenders, including police
warnings, probation, approved schools,
the
Borstal system and sexual
offenders. Having thus acquired a wide knowledge the Committee
turned its attention to prisons and called before it witnesses repre-
senting many aspects of the matter. Ascould be expected,
the
majority
of the witnesses were persons directly connected with prisons. One
witness only was connected with
the
Police,
Mr.
S. A. Kinnear,
H.~.
Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland,
but
this experienced officer no
doubt
adequately presented
the
police interests.
The
Report shows
that there is accommodation for about
3,000
prisoners in Scotland and
that during
1948
the
average daily population was rather more
than
haM this
number-a
very different position from
that
operating in
England, where many prisons are overcrowded
and
two or three
prisoners in a cell intended for one is not uncommon.
The
ten
prisons vary in size from being able to accommodate
953
down to 4, with five under
200.
One of the most interesting features
of
the
statistical side of
the
Report discloses
that
during
1948
the
number
of persons sentenced to imprisonment was
8,699,
aconsiderable
figure. Of these, more than half received sentences of
not
more
than
one month. Only
292
persons, representing 3
'25
of
the
whole, received
sentences of twelve months or over, of whom 50, i.e. . 57
per
cent., were
sentenced to three years or more. We have
not
the
comparable English
figures before us
but
hazard a guess
that
acomparison would indicate
that
such short sentences are more common in Scotland
than
in
England.
The
whole theme of the Report, quite properly, is the reclamation
of the wrongdoer,
but
we doubt whether much can be done to
the
half of
the
prison population which remains
under
treatment for less
B
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