Black or Muslim inmates twice as likely to have negative experiences in prison, report finds

Black and Muslim prisoners are twice as likely to have negative experiences in jail than white inmates – with the figure nearly four times as high for black Muslims – new research has revealed.

A major survey of nearly 400 prisoners shows that black inmates are significantly more likely to have negative prison outcomes than their white counterparts. Forty per cent of black male prisoners have experienced a negative outcome compared to 21 per cent of white male prisoners.

The research, by equality thinktank the Runnymede Trust and the University of Greenwich, also found that when broken down by religion, Muslim prisoners had the highest prevalence of negative outcomes compared to those of all other religions.

Statistical analysis of these figures indicates that prisoners who are both black and Muslim have an almost fourfold increased risk of having a negative experience compared to those of other ethnic and faith groups.

Experts warned that the impact of “chronic” cuts to prison staff have exacerbated already existing racial inequalities in the penal system, with dwindling resources intensifying “everyday racism” that BME prisoners experience.

The report shows that almost a third (29 per cent) of Muslim prisoners did not have prison jobs or attend education courses – which can have as positive impact on rehabilitation – compared to 17 per cent of Christian prisoners.

BME prisoners were meanwhile more likely to be on the lowest rung of the prison rewards and punishment scheme, as well as being more likely to be put into segregation and more likely to have restraint used against them.

The Government pledged last week to increase numbers of BME officers in response to their race disparity audit. The Runnymede Trust said the Government will need to hire four times as many BME prison officers to reflect the prison population.

Dr Zubaida Haque, one of the report authors and a Runnymede Trust research associate, told The Independent the decline in the rights of all prisoners due to staff cuts and overcrowding has seen structural racial discrimination in prison intensify.

“Through our research we were able to show that there’s a disproportionate impact on black and Muslim prisoners, or at least they’re disproportionately involved in all those things,” she said.

“We could see the impact of staff cuts happening. Prisoners are losing rights around safety, decency and dignity. The Government has a decency agenda which says that prisoners should be treated with respect, but all of that has gone out of the window, because of the chronic staff cuts.

“Prisoners have said it themselves – it was punishment upon punishment for them. That pretty much captures it. It explains the rise in mental health issues, self-harm, suicide – all of which have gone up dramatically since 2012.

“It was bad for BME prisoners anyway. The structural racial inequalities were there anyway, and then on top of that you have Government policies where prison officers are treating them even worse, not necessarily to do with race or religion, but they’re just spread really thin.”

The report recommends that the Government rapidly increase the current low numbers of highly skilled prison officers, starting with a drive to hit their target of 2,500 new prison officers.

BME prisoners should also have the opportunity to participate in programmes or workshops which take account of their cultural backgrounds and identity as research shows that this facilitates their rehabilitation progress, the report stated.

The report comes after the Government’s race disparity audit revealed that black, Asian and mixed-raced people were more likely than their white counterparts to be both suspected of and victims of crime in England and Wales.

An independent study on the treatment of BME people in the criminal justice system last month meanwhile revealed that black people in the UK were four times as likely to be in prison than would be expected given their proportion of the total population.

The review, conducted by Labour MP David Lammy for the Ministry of Justice, found that while black people account for just 3 per cent of the UK population, they make up 12 per cent of people in prison.

Responding to the Runnymede Trust report, a Prison Service Spokesperson said: “Black people and other ethnic minorities should not face discrimination in the criminal justice system, or anywhere else. That’s why we are looking at the findings of David Lammy’s extensive review into the treatment of BAME individuals in the criminal justice system.

“We welcome the insights of organisations such as the Runnymede Trust and have noted the contents of this report.”

The spokesperson added that the Government had invested £100m to boost the front line by 2,500 prison officers over the next 18 months, and urged that it was on track to meet its recruitment targets, having recently seen a net increase of 868 prison officers since January this year.