Paul*, barely 30, has already been in prison three times and, unfortunately, his is far from being an isolated case.
Unfortunately, I keep seeing the same faces behind bars
A worrying 56 per cent of inmates are repeat offenders, having broken the law and sentenced to prison on more than one occasion. It is this state of affairs that prompted Corradino Correctional Facilities chaplain, Fr Franco Fenech, and Fondazzjoni Dar Suret il-Bniedem coordinator Charles Mifsud to do something about and set up RISe (Rehabilitation in Society) Foundation.
Officially launched today, it aims to help prisoners develop a useful, self-sufficient way of life that will keep them away from further offences and from ending up behind bars again.
“Society looks at prison from different points of view,” Fr Franco, 47, said.
“Some view it in a punitive light while others think of it as a place of reform. However, everyone expects prisoners to emerge from incarceration as better people.
“Unfortunately, I keep seeing the same faces behind bars. People who would have walked out of prison determined not to return to their old ways are back two months after being released.
“The need was felt for a rehabilitation programme that is run while a person is serving time, rather that after.”
Enjoying the endorsement of President George Abela, Fr Franco and Mr Mifsud went to Holland to observe the workings of Exodus, an organisation that focuses on the re-socialisation and rehabilitation of former convicts.
In collaboration with Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia and Social Solidarity Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Fr Franco hopes to set up a similar transitional living facility for prisoners serving the final year of their sentence. They would be enrolled in a programme and assisted by psychologists, social workers and volunteers to rehabilitate themselves into society.
“This would be particularly beneficial for people eligible for parole but who are not released because they are considered at risk and not deemed as knowing how to properly utilise their liberty.”
They would be assigned a mentor and allowed gradual contact with society by being allowed to leave the premises to attend courses, look for a job and, ultimately, to work. “In the future, I would like a cooperative to be set up that would employ the inmates for a year following their release. This would allow us to follow them up.”
The priest expressed his distress at those who slammed his initiative as a “halfway home”, accusing the foundation of making the convicts’ lives “comfortable”.
“I can assure you it is not our intention to make their lives comfortable. Our intention is to protect society to make sure that ex-inmates are not detrimental to our families. Multiple offenders mean multiple victims.
“There are 640 prisoners. Only 12 are serving life. At one point or another, they’ll be out in society again.”
Fr Franco stresses that the cooperation of various sectors is required if the project is to be a success.
“It’s like graduating and not finding a job. They go back to their old circle and to their destructive ways.
“They might have committed the first offence on their own. But it is us who force them to commit further offences when we keep closing doors in their faces”.
He added that he was recently approached by a young woman who had just been released from prison. She could not find a job and was on the verge of turning to prostitution to provide for her young child.
“Society has to stop looking at prisoners as a problem but as people. It has to look beyond the offences reported in the papers.
“Every offence is reprehensible. I’m not excusing it. However, many of these people would have had a really tough childhood. Behind every person, there’s a story. You just need to look at the bigger picture.”
* Name changed to protect the person’s identity.