PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS This is one of the most difficult areas of the training programme to conduct successfully. Discriminatory behaviour is often not recognized for what it is. The trainees may be at this stage. Before any progress can be made in eradicating discrimination by implementing these recommendations, there has to be a willingness to accept that it exists, and that it is unjust. It is the trainer’s task to create the appropriate environment within which this progression can be made. TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION A list of topics is provided in the Manual. Methodology: The trainees should be divided into small groups for discussion. Each group should be given two of the topics to discuss. Time should be allowed for reporting back. Points to be highlighted/suggested areas for discussion: 39. – Minorities may benefit from being together; they can speak their own language, continue their customs and gain support from one another; 39. – Minorities may suffer relative deprivation from being held in a specialist minority block. They may not learn the national language or the rules which govern the country and their prison quarters may take on the characteristics of a ghetto; 39. – The prison rules and the rights of all prisoners should be available in all the languages likely to be represented within the prison population. It is in the interests of staff to ensure that all prisoners understand what is expected of them; 39. – Steps should be taken to ensure that vital information is read to prisoners, in their own language. It is not always possible to assume literacy; 39. – Freedom of opinion is a basic human rights principle; 39. – Freedom of expression is a right bounded only by the right of others to live free from harassment and fear; 39. – Living in close proximity to people of a different culture can be difficult, at least until more knowledge is acquired. It is difficult for staff as much as for prisoners; 39. – The likely areas of difficulty will have to do with dress, food, personal habits, and religious beliefs and practices; 39. – Checks on all prison procedures for ethnic minority representation, e.g. allocation of work and disciplinary procedures, will allow some monitoring of the treatment received by those groups or individuals; 39. – Fear and ignorance are the two main causes of prejudice and discrimination; 39. – Exposition and celebration of cultural characteristics can contribute to combating both; 39. – Prison staff could be assigned the task of developing such an event, probably in conjunction with education staff; 138