A new Hope and Fulfilment Survey (HAFS), developed as part of Prison Reform Trust’s Building Futures programme, explores how people serving long prison sentences experience hope and fulfilment – and also aims to create a way to track this over time.
So far, the findings show that relationships (especially with family), access to meaningful activities (such as education and work), and supportive staff are key to maintaining hope and improving prisoners’ wellbeing and chances of rehabilitation.
‘When I was remanded and entered prison for the first time the induction orderly was amazing. I was so lost and my entire identity had been stripped, but he welcomed me and helped me to settle. Positive role models in the early days can be the difference between life and death, success or failure.’
In contrast, limited opportunities to progress, inconsistent support, and indeterminate sentences (such as IPP*) reduce hope.
‘I have no life, no freedom, no future. I fear IPP will force me to commit suicide. I have lost all trust and hope in this justice system… Each day I feel more and more fear and dismay and I am starting to dislike life… I have to suffer in prison in silence. Accept it or suicide. That’s my only options left.’
The report calls for further validation of the HAFS to develop it further, as well as greater monitoring of custodial experiences in order to inform prison policy and practice.
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*IPP (Imprisonment for Public Protection) sentences were indeterminate sentences intended for offenders who were considered potentially dangerous to the public. The sentence was abolished in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving some 2,000 IPP prisoners still incarcerated without the hope of ever being released.