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on 1 January 1987, and the first Psychosexual Therapy Unit was established in D Division in the Metropolitan Reception Prison in October 1991. There are no published records of how many prisoners in total, and as a percentage, underwent these and other programs and still re-offended and were returned to prison. Perhaps the time has come to explore the possibility that more holistic and supportive programs, such as Prison Fellowship's "Lives In Transition" program, need to be instituted.

Tenth, the prison system can be improved by formulating a detailed sentence plan for each prisoner soon after their conviction and sentencing. Sentence Plans, such as they are, rarely contain anything more than recognition of where the prisoner happens to be, where his next placement may be, and a general notation as to what programs he may have to undergo. What they lack is a whole of sentence plan as to sentence progression (maximum-medium-minimum security placements), what programs the prisoner should undertake (education and vocational training as well as programs designed to address offending behaviour), what personal goals he wishes or needs to achieve, and how these goals relate to his post-release plans.

Any ideas about how to improve the prison system require consideration free from bias or preconceptions and need to be predicated on being practical and able to be implemented. Any idea to be transformed from thought through planning to implementation needs to abide by the fundamental principle of "what works”.

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(Name withheld)

"Ideas about How to Improve the Prison System: A 10 Point Plan" Page 6