The average stay of a Holloway inmate is just 45 days. It is a holding prison, defined by its transient population. Its function is to hold inmates on remand, or until they move to other jails. Repeat offenders also come through the gates with alarming regularity. Shockingly, the main reason for this is drugs. Every prisoner is seen by a doctor on arrival, and at times the scale of drug abuse is staggering. Most arrivals go straight to “Ivor Ward”, the prison’s specialist detox unit. So successful is its detox programme that some addicts trying to get clean are actually hoping to come into Holloway.
In this programme we meet Holloway’s youngest inmates. Their stories provide an insight into the pattern of criminality among young women and the way they deal with prison life. For some, it is ‘Hotel Holloway’, a refuge among a surrogate family away from the turbulence of drink, drugs and violence on the outside; for others, it is an opportunity to learn lessons and ensure they do not return. Aged between 18 and 21 they are kept separate from other prisoners. For many, prison provides the first experience of order in otherwise chaotic lives. A high proportion spent childhood in care; others witnessed or suffered violence and nearly a third experienced sexual abuse. By the time they get to Holloway 90 per cent of young offenders have mental health problems or addictions. They are also highly prone to self harm.
The final instalment looking at Holloway women's prison focuses on the treatment of inmates and how public expectations of punishment measure up to the reality of life behind bars. In light of the furore caused when a newspaper published a leaked photo of a morale-boosting Hallowe'en party in the lifer unit, prison staff find themselves treading a fine line as they try to manage the offenders humanely.