I think it'd be fair to say prison is mainly looked upon as a place of punishment.

But in reality, for a lot of people, it can be a place to address deep-rooted issues which feed into their criminal lifestyle.

During a recent visit to HMP Berwyn, I spoke to governor Nick Leader about the way the establishment works to help inmates change for the better by the time they're released.

One of the key aspects Berwyn focuses on is education and training.

According to the prison's statistics, almost 600 of its 1,820 men have a literacy level below what would be expected of a 14-year-old, and the figures are similar in terms of numeracy.

Mr Leader said: "That gives you an idea of some of the real gaps faced by some of our men, who have probably been excluded and let down at times in their life, whether it's the way they have not managed to get themselves to school, or care leavers who have had a difficult or disruptive life.

"That goes right the way through to people who have some skills, but haven't managed to finish school to get their GCSEs.

"We start off with getting the education skills up, and that can be difficult because sometimes people are scared about going into education.

"But once they have that, they can start thinking about where that might take them and get involved in working in a vocation, or training up in things like bricklaying or plastering."

Mr Leader explained one of the goals is to give inmates the tools they need to reduce the risk of returning to criminal behaviour.

"It does not work with all prisoners," he continued
 

"There is a fairly good churn with a lot of men - but some people, at some stage, will change; whether it's age or the skills we give them."

And it's not just academic achievement the prison helps its inmates to strive toward.

"With a lot of prisoners who come in," Mr Leader explained, "they have almost hidden behaviours that haven't been tackled for a long time.

"That might be violence, or domestic violence for example.

"If we think they are a risk towards victims or families, they're not allowed to have that contact until they demonstrate a reduction in that risk."

Mr Leader explained a prisoner's "hidden behaviours" might also bring a wide variety of extra challenges, stemming from physical and mental health, as well as substance misuse to name but a few.

He added: "We've got a real duty to protect the public while people are here, and that's never easy.

"The prison's population is growing more than it ever has in recent times and our challenge is to make sure we try and tackle a lot of those issues."

But there are benefits for those who engage well with the regime and actively work to better themselves while at the prison.

The IEP (Incentives and Earned Privileges) scheme gives inmates a status, which can be upgraded or downgraded depending on their conduct.

If they don't cooperate - for example not going to work, behaving violently, using illicit substances - in a repeated way, they can be downgraded to a "basic" level of IEP.

This means they have a reduction in the amount of money they can spend, shorter visits with family members, less time outside their cells and fewer employment opportunities.

On the other hand, if they progress, they can gain "enhanced" status, which allows the opposite - more access to activities such as the gym, the ability to spend more of the money they earn or have sent in by family.

But Mr Leader said he emphasises to the men that the achievement isn't just the practical benefits of the IEP scheme - rather the long-lasting outcomes of their hard work, such as learning to read and write.

"It could help them to have a different life on the outside," he concluded, "or help them to read a book to their child when they go home which they couldn't do before.

"The most important thing they get is that they have progressed."