Serco taking from the Imprisoned Poor to Give to the Homeless Poor?
I worked in a correctional jail in Queensland for the Department of Corrections. I recall walking in and hearing the big door close. It was an eery feeling. I wondered what it would be like to lose your freedom. What if you were innocent? What if you were guilty? Would this reform you or make you more fearful? Do you lose your rights as a citizen when deemed vulnerable? I say this as unemployed people are losing their rights and they have committed no crime. I am deeply contemplating power and powerlessness. I thank my many teachers who are showing me the reality in today’s world.
- I am a peace educator, I am very conscious of the negative thoughts that drive attitudes and behaviour and how our approach to crime is to punish as a deterrence. This does not evoke a paradigm shift in the person it instils fear so they are afraid to commit the crime. Not so different from international relations where weapons are used to frighten off challenges to power.
- I have come to realise it is a masculine paradigm.
- I have come to understand that life is about learning to know yourself and be true.
- I recognise that people do not have role models in most cases who guided them in a way that served them positively.
- I see the movie industry throwing up images that are violent and then we sit back and wonder why violent acts happen.
- I look at single mothers, absent fathers and how children are raised in poverty.
- I see how lack of education and ignorance fuels patterns of behaviour that are unquestioned because the person doesn’t know another way.
- I see the low self esteem, the constant feeling of failure, the drugs to sedate negative feelings and the harsh approach to mental health when what is needed is understanding.
- For me this is a feminine approach.
- I see no enemies, I see no-one unacceptable I just see people believing negative thoughts and acting from there without questioning.
- The Work of Byron Katie would catalyse real change in prisons as people come to understand that their thoughts are not real. It is fear that drives behaviour and violence is a call for help. What do you feel? Look inside yourself.
Here is an article about Serco the multinational company who is set to become involved in Centrelink call centres and the questions this raises are:
1) Is it appropriate for a company experienced in jails and detention centres to be involved in welfare?
2) How will job seekers be treated?
3) Will Social Security records be protected when Serco has experienced hacker breaches before.
4) Does sub-contracting distance government from direct responsibility for public goods paid for by the tax payer?
5) Is it appropriate to spend tax payers money to a foreign multinational and not provide jobs to Australian’s?
6) What is the relationship between those in multinational governance and political parties in Australia?
7) Can it be expected that human rights will be respected when they have been breached in detention centres? What of jails?
This article raises the question of –
Is it appropriate for a multinational Company to raise money from the poor to give to the poor in Poverty Week?
Is this to be seen to be? Is this okay given the wealth generated by the company. There is s statement below that indicates they should give back. Giving comes from the heart, it is not giving unless people feel empathy for others. Is it true that the people in jail have taken from the community? What of their lives? What have they done? What is the mistake they made? What is it that they believe? Did they come from poverty? Perhaps the greatest contribution is video’s on YouTube and discussions about the lives of prisoners and how they came to where they did? Were they in poverty? Did they steal to get food? Did they get involved in crime because they didn’t feel they could get a job? Were they after easy money? (greed). Are the laws just? Were they set up? etc. etc. etc. When you start thinking always situations are more complex then they appear but the media is typically a sound byte by which we make instant decisions without any real understanding of the reality of others. I watch some of these reality programs briefly where a court case is televised and the judge and jury are in the public. I wonder how the people involved in the case feel being judged by so many? Humiliating comes to mind. Does this empower or disempower? Is life black and white?
Here is the article. Do not judge but look into your own wisdom? Imagine you are the prisoner. Then imagine you are a Board member of Serco – what do you see, feel, think? This is called standing in the shoes of others.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/14/serco-run-prison-asks-inmates-to-donate-for-national-poverty-week
Serco-run prison asks inmates to donate for national poverty week
Critics call film night fundraiser ‘tone deaf’ after multinational confirms its sole contribution to national poverty week
Serco, which runs several corrections facilities in Australia, posted a global $139m global profit in 2016. Photograph: Jim Wileman
Serco-run prison asks inmates to donate for national poverty week
Critics call film night fundraiser ‘tone deaf’ after multinational confirms its sole contribution to national poverty week.
Multinational outsourcing giant Serco has asked inmates at one of its private prisons to donate money for national poverty week, a move critics have labelled “tone deaf”.
Serco, which posted a global £82.1m ($139m) profit in 2016, is hosting a movie night at Acacia prison in Western Australia, as its sole contribution to national poverty week next week.
Inmates are asked to make a gold coin donation to participate, because “it is important for people who have committed crimes against society to have the opportunity to give something back”.
Serco said the event was the idea of inmates, and was being run by its non-government partner, rehabilitation provider Outcare.
The company said the event was part of efforts to rehabilitate and reintegrate prisoners through a “responsible prisoner” model, which encourages inmates to make positive choices and plan their post-release future.
“These events are chosen by prisoners themselves who, with our NGO partners, then plan, arrange and run the events. Our staff provide outstanding support and make their own contributions,” a spokesman for the company said.
But critics have criticised Serco’s approach to national poverty week as a “tone deaf, hypocritical exercise that does nothing to help people in real poverty”.
The Anti-Poverty Network of South Australia said most inmates were typically in poverty themselves.
“It beggars belief that a multibillion-dollar company like Serco that has made its money from human rights abuses would think it appropriate to demand money from prisoners on anti-poverty week,” its spokeswoman, Nijole Naujokas, said.
The Acacia prison runs another charity program to support local groups, which relies on a prisoner-led reparation committee.
This year, the committee identified homelessness, at-risk youth, and domestic violence as its areas of focus. It expects to make a $30,000 commitment of “direct sponsorship, time, and materials” to six groups working in the area.
Serco’s operation of the Acacia facility was scrutinised late last year as part of a broader report by the state’s inspector of custodial services, Neil Morgan.
The prison held about 1,468 prisoners, but just 36.5% of beds were found to be compliant with Australasian guidelines, the report said.
Double bunking had caused crowding in many units, the report said.
Many services were found to be insufficient, including dental and mental health support and the access to the oval and gymnasium was restricted.
Naujokas said Serco should spend more of its own money “making prisoners lives and detention centres more comfortable, rather than cutting corners”.
Serco – a behemoth consultancy that provides a broad range of services for governments and corporations worldwide – found itself in the spotlight this week after the federal government announced it would help run Centrelink’s troubled call centre.
Under the deal 250 staff from a Serco subsidiary will join the call centre in a bid to improve performance and waiting times.
Labor, the Greens, and the main public sector union all voiced opposition to the privatisation of a critical public service.
Serco has run Australia’s onshore immigration detention centres since 2009, and operates private prisons at Acacia, the Wandoo reintegration facility, and the Southern Queensland Correctional Centre.
It is also part of a consortium that will build and operate a 1,700 bed prison near Grafton, in New South Wales, expected to be Australia’s largest correctional centre.
The Anti-Poverty Network is holding its conference next week, which it said was the only event of its kind organised by low-income people, for low-income people.