LESSONS ON A LIFE OF CRIME

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 723.

Does the accused always get a fair sentence? What punishment do you consider to be relevant for this or that crime or offence?

How can criminals be persuaded to give up crime?

What is the best way to deal with young people who commit crimes?

It is Monday morning at the Cantell School in Southampton and a slight, attractive man of 45, wearing plain grey clothes, introduces himself to a group of 40 children. ‘My name is John. How old are you … 13 or 14? Well, I've spent as many years as you've been alive in prison. At the moment, I am serving a seven-year sentence. This is my parole licence.' He waves a paper in front of them, then picks up three closely-typed pages and continues: ‘This is my criminal record. Detention centre, Borstal, prison. That's a wasted life.' John Bower's visit is part of the children's personal development course, a chance to explore ideas about responsibility that they have already discussed with their teacher, John Jones. For Mr Bowers, it is a chance to redeem himself after 30 years of crime. On his release last February, he contacted New Bridge, a voluntary organization that helps ex-prisoners find employment. He began giving talks about prison life to schools where the children might be at risk of getting into trouble. ‘Those of us who are concerned with prisoners believe that the process of caring has to continue when they leave prison,' says Eric McGraw, the director of New Bridge. ‘The main problem is that people are let out of prison with £20 in their pocket, no job and nowhere to go, and we expect them not to commit crimes again.'

At Cantell, a large secondary school, Mr Bowers writes ‘prison' and ‘prisoner' on the board and asks the children to suggest what the words mean. Hands go up and ‘bars', ‘bad news', ‘lonely', ‘isolation', ‘terrible food', ‘shame', and ‘violence' are written down. ‘Boredom' says one girl. ‘That's exactly right,' says Mr Bowers. ‘What do you think of me for wasting my life in a place like that? Honestly?' There is an awkward pause, then a boy at the back of the class whispers ‘thick!' and everybody laughs. Later some of the questions reveal traces of anger, perhaps because the children have been victims of crime. ‘Did you ever burgle a house at Christmas?' one girl demands. ‘No,' Mr Bowers says. ‘In some crazy moral way, I laid low at Christmas – as if that justified doing it at other times of the year.' Another child asks whether he had any regrets. ‘You try and blot out what you are doing to people,' he explains. ‘If I had robbed your house, it wouldn't have been anything personal. If I had had any conscience, I wouldn't have lasted five minutes.'

Mr Bowers has written on the board all the words the children came up with. ‘That's right,' he says. ‘All these words apply to me.' This is the heart of his message. ‘I'm here to say that all these words will apply to you too, if you embark on a life of crime, or waste your life through drugs, alcohol or, as I did, through imagining the world owes you a living.' He asks them to think about how their parents would feel if any of them were arrested for shoplifting or stealing a car radio. There is some uncomfortable shuffling as they volunteer ‘ashamed' and ‘upset'. He asks why they think people commit crime. Short of money, revenge on a society that does nothing for you, problems at home, no friends or the wrong sort of friends, they reply. But he accepts no excuses. ‘Most prisoners are very selfish people,' he says. ‘They would rather rob than get a job. No friends, jealousy and idleness – this covers 99 per cent of the prison population.'

Mr Jones suggests that the children should tell Mr Bowers what they think of him now they've heard what he has to say. Replies come thick and fast: friendly, honest, willing, a good citizen, trustworthy, ‘nearly a normal person'. In 40 minutes Mr Bowers has undergone a journey that is vital to his self-respect, from a criminal whom one boy said he wouldn't like to meet on a dark night, to being an ex-offender – ‘nearly a normal person'. It is, after all, a course in personal development.

· Find a word or phrase in the text that in context has a similar meaning to:

1. time in prison

2. permission to leave prison

3. list of criminal convictions

4. regain his self-respect

5. stupid

6. slight indications

7. sense of right and wrong

8. begin

9. moving the feet

· Are the following statements true or false?

1. John Bowers has been a criminal for 14 years.

2. He has finished his prison sentence.

3. At first the children are hostile to Mr Bowers.

4. The children feel embarrassed.

5. Mr Bowers writes up all the words the children use to describe him.

6. Mr Bowers is more critical of criminals than the children are.

7. Mr Bowers makes a good impression on the children.

· Find English equivalents to the following words and word combinations.

1. разрешение на досрочное освобождение

2. уголовное прошлое / судимости

3. искупать (вину) / исправлять (ошибки)

4. забыть что-то неприятное

5. предлагать (слова)

6. все слова относятся ко мне

7. вступить на путь преступления

8. месть обществу

9. он не принял никаких оправданий

10. человек, которому можно доверять

· Answer the following questions.

1. What have you learnt about John Bowers?

2. What is the purpose of the children's development course?

3. What is the aim of Mr. Bowers in taking part in this course?

4. What are voluntary organizations like New Bridge designed for?

5. What problems do ex-prisoners come up against?

6. What do the children associate prison with?

7. What do some of the children's questions reveal? Why?

8. What does Mr. Bowers say trying to justify himself?

9. What does Mr. Bowers warn the children against?

10. Why do people embark on a life of crime according to the text? Are there any other reasons for it?

11. What do the children think of Mr. Bowers at the end of the meeting?

12. Why does he make a good impression on them?

13. What effect does his visit have on both him and the children?

· Summarize the text.

· Retell the text.