Jimmy McGovern's latest TV series, Time, recently came to the end of its three-part run in BBC1's Sunday evening Drama slot. For those of you who missed it, it is available on the iPlayer. The series attracted rave reviews from critics and ex-inmates for its depiction of our brutalizing prison system. Writing in The i, John Crilly, the former prisoner who drove Usman Khan out of Fishmongers' Hall with a fire extinguisher in 2019, remarks that all that was missing from this 'real, no holds barred' depiction of prison life were the smells. 'Prison', continues Crilly, 'is a jungle' where 'all hope is driven out of prisoners everyday', leading one prisoner to take their own life every five days.
Crilly puts forward an alternative to how we currently deal with those who offend and that is Restorative Justice. Apparently, in researching 'Time', Jimmy McGovern spent some time himself observing the Prison Fellowship's Sycamore Tree programme. This is a volunteer-led victim awareness programme that teaches prisoners the principles of restorative justice. As a restorative justice practitioner, I was pleased that McGovern included restorative practices in the series if only because it helped me explain to family and friends what it is that I do. But, for reasons that I am struggling to understand, the restorative practices depicted in Time are object lessons in what NOT to do.
In the second episode, a young prisoner, Daniel, is told that the parents of the man whom he murdered would like to meet him. He is unsure how to respond but is told by his older cell mate that, in his particular circumstances, it's what he owes them. As in most things in life, failing to plan in restorative work is planning to fail and, seemingly, no prepartion takes place leading up to the meeting. The prison officer facilitating the meeting introduces himself as an accredited restorative justice practitioner which is something of a surprise as what follows totally discredits the value of restorative justice. The prison chaplain who is co-facilitating the meeting asks Daniel what he hopes to get from the meeting. This question ought to have been asked weeks before any meeting took place but, regardless, Daniel is prompted to say that he is seeking forgiveness. We don't learn of the other participants' expectations but it is clear that the parents of the man murdered by Daniel are still in a period of deep grief. Daniel explains to them, as best he can, the reason he had for murdering their son. They declare his actions 'unforgiveable' and the meeting ends. The grieving parents are seen weeping uncontrollably and Daniel is depicted returning to the prison wing and immediately scoring heroin from the prison's Mr. Big. Rather than helping to heal the trauma caused by the murder, the restorative meeting has only served to re-traumatise both parties. It is the ineptitude of the facilitators that I find truly unforgiveable.
In episode one, the older prison, Mark, is encouraged to write a restorative letter to the family of the man he has killed. The resulting letter is not wanted but the accredited restorative justice practitioner declares it to be the best restorative letter he has ever read. In the final scene of the series, we, the viewers, get to see this exceptional restorative letter. It reads, 'I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry...', the repeated word filling both sides of a page. It is a comfort to harmed people to know that those who caused them harm are remorseful. And, in my experience of supporting people write restorative letters, the expression of remorse is a good place to start. But harmed people need much more from a restorative letter. Amongst other things, they need to know what was in the other person's head at the time, what have they learnt from the experience and how they intend to prevent themselves from causing further harm in the future.
In the final scene of the series, Mark meets up with the wife of the man he killed. He presents her with his letter.
She reads it and asks, 'Who did it help, me reading it? You or me?'
Mark honestly responds, 'Me'.
Graciously, she writes her address on the envelope and tells Mark that, if he sends her another letter, she will read it.
In this case, a competent restorative justice practitioner would never have allowed the letter to be seen by the harmed person but, as in the final scene, would have encouraged and supported Mark to have another go.
Restorative practices rarely make it onto our screen, so it is very frustrating that when they do, they appear to cause further harm. Not only does this undermine the view of John Crilly and others that restorative justice can provide an alternative to our brutalizing penal system but may discourage people from participating in a restorative process. There is talk of another series of 'Time'. If this gets commissioned, Jimmy McGovern will hopefully depict the evidence-based power of restorative justice to help heal the trauma caused by crime and convince my family and friends that what I do doesn't actually make things worse.
