ianstone
06-07-2010, 09:02 PM
From The Times
June 8, 2010
Prisoners convert to Islam for jail perks
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent
6 Comments (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7145784.ece#comment-have-your-say)
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {color:#06c;} Inmates are converting to Islam in order to gain perks and the protection of powerful Muslim gangs, the Chief Inspector of Prisons warns today.
Dame Anne Owers says that some convicted criminals are taking up the religion in jail to receive benefits only available to practising Muslims.
The number of Muslim prisoners has risen dramatically since the mid-1990s — from 2,513 in 1994, or 5 per cent of the population, to 9,795 in 2008, or 11 per cent. Staff at top-security prisons and youth jails have raised concerns about the intimidation of non-Muslims and possible forced conversions.
Dame Anne’s report, Muslim Prisoners’ Experiences, published today, says that, although several high-profile terrorists have been jailed recently, fewer than 1 in 100 Muslim inmates have been convicted of terrorism.
Related Links
Muslim prison gangs flex their muscles (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5509740.ece)
Muslim inmates 'turned to extremism in jail' (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4916240.ece)
She says that prison staff are suspicious about those practising or converting to the faith and warns that treating Muslim inmates as potential or actual extremists risks radicalising them. The report says: “Many Muslim prisoners stressed the positive and rehabilitative role that Islam played in their lives, and the calm that religious observance could induce in a stressed prison environment. This was in marked contrast to the suspicion that religious observance, and particularly conversion or reversion, tended to produce among staff.”
All prisons offer a halal menu, which some inmates see as better than the usual choices. Muslims are excused from work and education while attending Friday prayers. Some converts, who are known as “convenience Muslims”, admitted that they had changed faith because they got more time out of the cells to go to Friday prayers. One quoted in the report said: “Food good too, initially this is what converted me.”
In some of the most secure jails, the size of the Muslim population is well above average. Two years ago, Muslim inmates accounted for a third of prisoners in Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire, and a quarter of inmates in Long Lartin in Worcestershire.
The report says that inmates converted after learning about Islam from other inmates or their family, to obtain support and protection in a group with a powerful identity and for material advantages. One inmate quoted in the report said: “I’ve got loads of close brothers here. They share with you, we look out for each other.”
Muslim prisoners tended to report more negatively on their prison experience and were also more likely to fear for their own safety or complain of problems in their relations with staff. In high-security prisons, three-quarters of Muslims said they felt unsafe.
Dame Anne said that unless staff engaged effectively with them there was “a real risk of a self-fulfilling prophecy: that the prison experience will create or entrench alienation and disaffection, so that prisons release into the community young men who are more likely to offend, or even embrace extremism”.
Tom Robson, vice-chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, said that some impressionable prisoners were converting because they wanted status and protection. “What we have got at the moment is an upward trend,” he said. “It is worrying.”
Phil Wheatley, director-general of the National Offender Management Service, said: “Our clear policy is that all prisoners are treated with respect and decency, recognising the diverse needs of a complex prison population, and that the legitimate practice of faith in prison is supported.”
Dame Anne’s study was based on 85 jail inspection reports and in-depth interviews with 164 Muslim prisoners in eight jails. It follows reports of Muslim inmates seeking to assert their authority on the wings of prisons
From The Times
October 10, 2008
Prison officers fear that Muslim inmates are turning to extremism
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent
Recommend? (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4916240.ece#none)
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {color:#06c;} Staff at a top security jail fear Muslim inmates are pressurising other Muslim prisoners to adopt extremist views and encouraging other offenders to convert to Islam, according to an inspection report published today.
Prison officers at Whitemoor jail also feared growing radicalisation and conversions among the 395 inmates, of whom almost one third were Muslims.
On one wing at the jail staff admitted that Muslim inmates “policed themselves”, the report said.
One inmate claimed to inspectors that inmates are converting to Islam because they want protection and that Muslim gangs in the jail provide it.
Related Links
Al-Qaeda bid to recruit inmates (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4838032.ece)
Jail alienation 'risks radicalising Muslims' (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3746159.ece)
Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons, urges the prison service to do more to provide staff throughout the jail system but particularly in the top security prisons with help to deal with increasing Muslim numbers.
The number of Muslim prisoners in jails doubled in the ten years to 2006 to reach 8,243 - 11 per cent of the total prison population.
Ms Owers said the top security prisons are facing increased risks involving more gang activity, more young men serving long sentences and a small number of men convicted of terrorist offences.
She said Whitemoor jail at March in Cambridgeshire had faced a sudden expansion in black and ethnic minority prisoners to reach 150, of whom 120 were Muslims.
A committee had been created to advise on action to deal with possible gang, terrorist or extremist activity at the prison even though only 8 of the Muslim prisoners had been convicted of terrorist offences.
“Despite these strong central systems, residential staff were mostly unaware of these initiatives. They expressed a fear of what they saw as a rising problem of prisoner radicalisation and an increase in Muslim conversion”, the chief inspector’s report said.
Staff were unsure about how to treat Muslim inmates other than as potential security risks. The report said officers were reluctant to engage with inmates and deliberately kept their distance from them because they feared they would be “conditioned” by prisoners.
“Some staff appeared reluctant to engage with Muslim prisoners, and the little information and training they had received about Muslim prisoners was related to monitoring them as potential threats to national security, which inevitably impinged on the way they interacted with them.”, the report said.
It added:”Prisoners said that staff attitudes towards them changed markedly for the worse if they chose to, or happened to, associate with those prisoners.
“There was a perception among officers that some Muslim prisoners operated as a gang and put pressures on non-Muslim prisoners to converrt, and on other Muslim prisoners to conform to a strict and extreme interpretation of Islamic practice.
“However, there was a reluctance to engage with Muslim prisoners and challenge inappropriate behaviour. An officer on one wing said that Muslim prisoners ’policed themselves’ and that others in the staff group agreed”.
Describing the gang culture at the jail, one inmate said:”On the main wing it is Muslim vs whites. Staff are worried as what will they do when it all goes mainstream. They are beginning to outnumber everyone and don’t care - all this radicalisation and they’re extremely violent slashing people”.
Another prisoner said:”The new gang are the Muslims. The Muslim group is the big group and others are looking for protectionn. Those who are isolated are looking for protection and so are the ones converting as they won’t get help from screws (prison officers).
Ms Owers report said resettlement work had improved along with activities available to prisoners but she said the jail still faced challenges.
Phil Wheatley, director general of the National Offender Management Service, said: “The Chief Inspector is right to highlight the challenges and risks Whitemoor is facing. It is also important to recognise the action being taken to manage challenging prisoner profiles.
“A more sophisticated approach to addressing bullying and the management of bullies and their victims is now in place and is bringing improvements.
“Work to improve the relationships between staff and prisoners is a priority and measures have been implemented to tackle this, including training to develop staff understanding of the growing Muslim population
Fact; UK Prisons pamper the Islamic prisoners:
June 8, 2010
Prisoners convert to Islam for jail perks
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent
6 Comments (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7145784.ece#comment-have-your-say)
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {color:#06c;} Inmates are converting to Islam in order to gain perks and the protection of powerful Muslim gangs, the Chief Inspector of Prisons warns today.
Dame Anne Owers says that some convicted criminals are taking up the religion in jail to receive benefits only available to practising Muslims.
The number of Muslim prisoners has risen dramatically since the mid-1990s — from 2,513 in 1994, or 5 per cent of the population, to 9,795 in 2008, or 11 per cent. Staff at top-security prisons and youth jails have raised concerns about the intimidation of non-Muslims and possible forced conversions.
Dame Anne’s report, Muslim Prisoners’ Experiences, published today, says that, although several high-profile terrorists have been jailed recently, fewer than 1 in 100 Muslim inmates have been convicted of terrorism.
Related Links
Muslim prison gangs flex their muscles (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article5509740.ece)
Muslim inmates 'turned to extremism in jail' (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4916240.ece)
She says that prison staff are suspicious about those practising or converting to the faith and warns that treating Muslim inmates as potential or actual extremists risks radicalising them. The report says: “Many Muslim prisoners stressed the positive and rehabilitative role that Islam played in their lives, and the calm that religious observance could induce in a stressed prison environment. This was in marked contrast to the suspicion that religious observance, and particularly conversion or reversion, tended to produce among staff.”
All prisons offer a halal menu, which some inmates see as better than the usual choices. Muslims are excused from work and education while attending Friday prayers. Some converts, who are known as “convenience Muslims”, admitted that they had changed faith because they got more time out of the cells to go to Friday prayers. One quoted in the report said: “Food good too, initially this is what converted me.”
In some of the most secure jails, the size of the Muslim population is well above average. Two years ago, Muslim inmates accounted for a third of prisoners in Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire, and a quarter of inmates in Long Lartin in Worcestershire.
The report says that inmates converted after learning about Islam from other inmates or their family, to obtain support and protection in a group with a powerful identity and for material advantages. One inmate quoted in the report said: “I’ve got loads of close brothers here. They share with you, we look out for each other.”
Muslim prisoners tended to report more negatively on their prison experience and were also more likely to fear for their own safety or complain of problems in their relations with staff. In high-security prisons, three-quarters of Muslims said they felt unsafe.
Dame Anne said that unless staff engaged effectively with them there was “a real risk of a self-fulfilling prophecy: that the prison experience will create or entrench alienation and disaffection, so that prisons release into the community young men who are more likely to offend, or even embrace extremism”.
Tom Robson, vice-chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, said that some impressionable prisoners were converting because they wanted status and protection. “What we have got at the moment is an upward trend,” he said. “It is worrying.”
Phil Wheatley, director-general of the National Offender Management Service, said: “Our clear policy is that all prisoners are treated with respect and decency, recognising the diverse needs of a complex prison population, and that the legitimate practice of faith in prison is supported.”
Dame Anne’s study was based on 85 jail inspection reports and in-depth interviews with 164 Muslim prisoners in eight jails. It follows reports of Muslim inmates seeking to assert their authority on the wings of prisons
From The Times
October 10, 2008
Prison officers fear that Muslim inmates are turning to extremism
Richard Ford, Home Correspondent
Recommend? (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4916240.ece#none)
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {color:#06c;} Staff at a top security jail fear Muslim inmates are pressurising other Muslim prisoners to adopt extremist views and encouraging other offenders to convert to Islam, according to an inspection report published today.
Prison officers at Whitemoor jail also feared growing radicalisation and conversions among the 395 inmates, of whom almost one third were Muslims.
On one wing at the jail staff admitted that Muslim inmates “policed themselves”, the report said.
One inmate claimed to inspectors that inmates are converting to Islam because they want protection and that Muslim gangs in the jail provide it.
Related Links
Al-Qaeda bid to recruit inmates (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4838032.ece)
Jail alienation 'risks radicalising Muslims' (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3746159.ece)
Anne Owers, the chief inspector of prisons, urges the prison service to do more to provide staff throughout the jail system but particularly in the top security prisons with help to deal with increasing Muslim numbers.
The number of Muslim prisoners in jails doubled in the ten years to 2006 to reach 8,243 - 11 per cent of the total prison population.
Ms Owers said the top security prisons are facing increased risks involving more gang activity, more young men serving long sentences and a small number of men convicted of terrorist offences.
She said Whitemoor jail at March in Cambridgeshire had faced a sudden expansion in black and ethnic minority prisoners to reach 150, of whom 120 were Muslims.
A committee had been created to advise on action to deal with possible gang, terrorist or extremist activity at the prison even though only 8 of the Muslim prisoners had been convicted of terrorist offences.
“Despite these strong central systems, residential staff were mostly unaware of these initiatives. They expressed a fear of what they saw as a rising problem of prisoner radicalisation and an increase in Muslim conversion”, the chief inspector’s report said.
Staff were unsure about how to treat Muslim inmates other than as potential security risks. The report said officers were reluctant to engage with inmates and deliberately kept their distance from them because they feared they would be “conditioned” by prisoners.
“Some staff appeared reluctant to engage with Muslim prisoners, and the little information and training they had received about Muslim prisoners was related to monitoring them as potential threats to national security, which inevitably impinged on the way they interacted with them.”, the report said.
It added:”Prisoners said that staff attitudes towards them changed markedly for the worse if they chose to, or happened to, associate with those prisoners.
“There was a perception among officers that some Muslim prisoners operated as a gang and put pressures on non-Muslim prisoners to converrt, and on other Muslim prisoners to conform to a strict and extreme interpretation of Islamic practice.
“However, there was a reluctance to engage with Muslim prisoners and challenge inappropriate behaviour. An officer on one wing said that Muslim prisoners ’policed themselves’ and that others in the staff group agreed”.
Describing the gang culture at the jail, one inmate said:”On the main wing it is Muslim vs whites. Staff are worried as what will they do when it all goes mainstream. They are beginning to outnumber everyone and don’t care - all this radicalisation and they’re extremely violent slashing people”.
Another prisoner said:”The new gang are the Muslims. The Muslim group is the big group and others are looking for protectionn. Those who are isolated are looking for protection and so are the ones converting as they won’t get help from screws (prison officers).
Ms Owers report said resettlement work had improved along with activities available to prisoners but she said the jail still faced challenges.
Phil Wheatley, director general of the National Offender Management Service, said: “The Chief Inspector is right to highlight the challenges and risks Whitemoor is facing. It is also important to recognise the action being taken to manage challenging prisoner profiles.
“A more sophisticated approach to addressing bullying and the management of bullies and their victims is now in place and is bringing improvements.
“Work to improve the relationships between staff and prisoners is a priority and measures have been implemented to tackle this, including training to develop staff understanding of the growing Muslim population
Fact; UK Prisons pamper the Islamic prisoners: