A radio documentary by Jim Henderson, about prison life in New Zealand with comments made by the inmates of the unidentified [Wellington ?] medium-security prison.
The male inmates [all unidentified] talk about their daily routine from the time they wake up until they retire, relations with prison officers, loneliness, their recreation options and plans for rehabilitation and release.
Actuality of prisoners meeting to organise a bowls tournament.
A unidentified female social worker talks about her work with the men and then is heard talking to an inmate about how she can help his wife and family.
An unidentified Pacific Island man talks about how hard it is to get a job as an ex-prisoner and how he then ends up "back to this old tricks". Another man says police and his probation officer rang up his work place to tell his employer that he was an ex-burglar and he was then fired as a result.
Another man defends the work done by probation officers.
A man talks about how easy it is to get re-arrested as a former prisoner and another tells about getting fired from farm work after they discovered he had a record.
The prison superintendant explains his role and Jim Henderson runs through some of the jobs and training they get while in prison to give them skills for release. Actuality is heard of the prison canteen shop and print shop, while other men work outside the prison learning farm and hospitality work.
There are short interviews with two men who go out on pre-release parole during the days and return to the prison at night. One is a forklift driver and fruit-sorter and the other is working as a printer. They are allowed out on their own and trusted to return to prison in the evening.
A Scotsman compares prison time to his previous work on-board a whaling ship.