Safer

Medium

Text

Form

Interview quote

Artist / Maker

Former staff member, joined 1974

And I always felt safer, if you like, in the Victorian style prison, in the radials, because I knew wherever I was someone else could see me. And what’s more, not only could someone else see me, but they’ve got access to get me help very quickly, because help was nearby. […] At Leeds … you’re talking about 1000 prisoners all unlocked at the same time, and there wouldn’t be any more than forty or fifty prison officers in the building. Maybe only half a dozen actually in sight of the thousand prisoners on the way to work, and you always felt safe, because you knew if the bloke on the centre rang the bell, there’d be fifty prison officers right where you were. And most prisoners, again, you think every prisoner is a murderer, but they’re not; even the murderers aren’t murderers… or, even the murderers aren’t murderous.

– Former staff member, joined 1974

Why have we collected this work?

We want to understand what these prisons are like to live and work in, and how has this changed over time. We are examining the ways that these prison buildings carry traces of the past, while operating in the present day.

The project considers how and why these buildings have survived for so long, and asks how we will know when they have reached the end of their operational lives. We consider the significance of the Victorian prison in shaping public and professional ideas of what prison should be like. Crucially, this project explores the implications of the continued operation of Victorian-era prisons for the contemporary prison service, and aims to inform policy development.

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