Levels of violence have risen within the English prison system over the past year. The most serious incident occurred last week in HMP Birmingham where inmates took control of four wings. This follows growing unrest over the fall in facilities to prisoners, including lack of hot water and an increasing number of hours spent locked up due to staff shortages. There are some suggestions in the media that an influx of psychoactive drugs to the prison system has led to prisoners behaving more aggressively than ever before. But there seems to be little evidence of that being the cause of this unrest.
It is true that it is easier today for prisoners to access particular types of drugs, especially legal highs, and become addicted but that says more about the state of the prisons than about individuals kept there. A report published in May carried out by HM Inspectorate of Prisons into HMP Bedford found that almost twice the number of prisoners said it was “easy” to get hold of drugs, compared to a previous inspection in February 2014. Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, wrote in the report: “The stark reality is that prisoners told us it was easier to get illegal drugs in the prison than it was to get clothes or sheets.
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