Erwin James (2013) | A Killer Can Be a Good Neighbour

When someone commits a crime, we want them punished. If
wrongdoers go to prison more often and for longer, everyone seems
happy.


But we live in a system where people do eventually come out of
prison and rejoin the community. And this is where what has
happened to them in prison really starts to matter. If prisons
are a rank breeding ground for recidivism, where drug use is
unchecked and non-violent offenders are initiated into the
criminal world, do you want someone who has spent time there
living near you? Or would you rather see them going straight back
to jail?


As incarceration rates grow, if we want anyone who has been to
jail to have a chance in life, maybe we need to look at a
different approach – the kind of prison model that could make a
killer a good neighbour.


Erwin James is a convicted murderer and Guardian journalist.
James was released in August 2004 having served 20 years of a
life sentence.


Chaired by journalist Hamish Macdonald.