Sir, - Nuala O'Faolain (The Irish Times, October 27th) writes poignantly about the plight of inmates in Mountjoy women's prison.
To read that the women we imprison may find solace in captivity speaks volumes about the poverty of opportunity they face when at liberty. That a period of incarceration might offer some respite from the routine brutalisation of ordinary life is a cause for despair.
It is also a dramatic illustration of the limited deterrent value of imprisonment. The widely-held view that a more ruthless and punitive response to offenders will scare them into law-abiding behaviour is unsustainable. Furthermore, prisons are by their nature damaging environments, and should be used sparingly, as a sanction of last resort.
These views are rarely heard above the clamour for extra prison places. However, they are important. If we are to develop a penal system that gives priority to crime reduction, then we must move away from a preoccupation with punishment and embrace a notion of justice as restorative and rehabilitative. - Yours, etc.,
Director, Irish Penal Reform Trust, Merchants Quay, Dublin 8.