A special issue of a journal examined the scope for private provision in the probation service and the wider criminal justice system.
Source: Probation Journal, Volume 59 Number 4
Links: Table of contents
Date: 2012-Dec
A report examined data on drug use among prison populations in Europe, and responses to the health needs of drug-using prisoners.
Source: Prisons and Drugs in Europe: The problem and responses, European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Dec
An article examined associations between clinical/demographic/criminological characteristics of inmates with mental illness and the level of mental health intervention received during early custody in England. The level of intervention was not consistently linked with diagnoses or symptom severity. Triage processes should be improved to ensure that mental healthcare resources in prisons were appropriately matched to clinical need.
Source: Lamiece Hassan, Mohammed Shaiyan Rahman, Carlene King, Jane Senior, and Jenny Shaw, 'Level of mental health intervention and clinical need among inmates with mental illness in five English jails', Psychiatric Services, Volume 63 Number 12
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
A study found that almost one-half of adult male prisoners had a brain injury that could be contributing to their repeat offending.
Source: Ivan Pitman, Claire Haddlesey, and Deborah Fortescue, The Prevalence of Traumatic Brain Injury among Adult Male Offenders in the UK, Disabilities Trust Foundation
Links: Briefing | DTF press release | VODG press release
Date: 2012-Nov
The Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Draft Bill was published. The Bill was designed to ensure that laws on prisoner voting complied with the United Kingdom's international legal obligations. It included options to: maintain the existing ban on all convicted prisoners voting; allow prisoners sentenced to less than 6 months in prison to vote; allow prisoners sentenced to less than 4 years in prison to vote.
Source: Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Draft Bill, Cm 8499, Ministry of Justice, TSO
Links: Draft Bill | Hansard | MOJ press release | HOC research brief | Labour Party press release | PRT press release | Daily Mail report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Nov
A new book examined the negotiation of ethnic difference within male prisons.
Source: Coretta Phillips, The Multicultural Prison: Ethnicity, masculinity, and social relations among prisoners, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Nov
A report examined the experiences and treatment of children and young people who had died in prison custody in England and Wales. The young people concerned had been some of the most disadvantaged in society, and had had significant interaction with community agencies before entering prison. But in many cases there had been failures in communication and information exchange between prisons and other agencies. Despite their vulnerability, the young people had not been diverted out of the criminal justice system at an early stage. They had been failed by the systems set up to safeguard them from harm.
Source: Anna Edmundson, Deborah Coles, Rebecca Nadin, and Jessica Jacobson, Fatally Flawed: Has the state learned lessons from the deaths of children and young people in prison?, Prison Reform Trust/INQUEST
Links: Report | PRT press release | Action for Children press release | OCC press release | Guardian report | Huffington Post report
Date: 2012-Oct
The prisons inspectorate for England and Wales published its annual report for 2011-12. There had been general improvements in prisons, immigration removal centres, police cells, and other places of custody. But overall progress had been uneven and there was too much inconsistency between prisons that appeared to have similar budgets, functions, and populations. There was a 'growing current' of individual adverse incidents and concerns.
Source: Annual Report 2011-12, HC 613, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, TSO
Links: Report | HCI Prisons press release | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Oct
An article examined existing literature on the prevalence of mental health disorders in probation populations, in order to inform the provision of health services to this group. There was a high prevalence of mental illness and high rates of co-morbidity in offenders on probation. However, variation in study settings and methodology made it difficult to reach firm conclusions on the likely prevalence of mental illness in probation populations from the existing literature. There was a need for further high-quality research.
Source: Coral Sirdifield, 'The prevalence of mental health disorders amongst offenders on probation: a literature review', Journal of Mental Health, Volume 21 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
A think-tank report said that the existing system of tagging offenders was 'in desperate need of reform'. A more effective use of tagging, where police and probation officers were directly involved in keeping track of offenders and recommending to prison governors and the courts which criminals should be tagged, could save hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer money and help the coalition government achieve its goal of stabilizing the prison population by 2015.
Source: Rory Geoghegan, Future of Corrections: Exploring the use of electronic monitoring, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Sep
A study examined data regarding people dying under probation supervision. Between 2005 and 2010, 2,275 men and 275 women had died while under probation supervision. Of these, just one-quarter were reported as having died of natural causes, with suicide accounting for at least 1 in 8 deaths and alcohol issues 1 in 13. Evidence suggested that probation staff were recording deaths simply as a bureaucratic exercise rather than to help them understand why people were dying under their supervision and what could be done to prevent future deaths.
Source: Loraine Gelsthorpe, Nicola Padfield, and Jake Phillips, Deaths on Probation: An analysis of data regarding people dying under probation supervision, Howard League for Penal Reform
Links: Report | HLPR press release
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined the research literature on the prevalence of mental health disorders among offenders on probation.
Source: Coral Sirdifield, 'The prevalence of mental health disorders amongst offenders on probation: a literature review', Journal of Mental Health, Volume 21 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
A report highlighted serious flaws in the learning process following an inquest into a death in custody or following contact with state agents.
Source: Deborah Coles and Helen Shaw, Learning from Death in Custody Inquests: A new framework for action and accountability, Inquest
Links: Report | Inquest press release
Date: 2012-Sep
An audit report said that the National Offender Management Service faced 'substantial financial and operational challenges', including a vulnerability to unexpected changes in the prison population. The service would find it more difficult to meet its savings targets following decisions to drop some sentencing reforms designed to reduce the size of the prison population.
Source: Restructuring of the National Offender Management Service, HC 593 (Session 2012–13), National Audit Office, TSO
Links: Report | NAO press release | Labour Party press release | BBC report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Sep
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that jailing offenders indefinitely without providing proper access to rehabilitation courses was a breach of human rights. The three men concerned had been given indeterminate imprisonment for public protection (IPPs) in 2005. The coalition government said that it would appeal against the decision – although it had abolished IPPs.
Source: James, Wells and Lee v United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights
Links: Judgement | Justice Gap press release | PRT press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Sep
The prisons inspectorate called for a comprehensive review of strategies and polices for remand prisoners in England and Wales, in order to ensure that their treatment and conditions were consistent with their unconvicted and unsentenced status; and that they received interventions and support to resettle successfully after release and did not subsequently offend.
Source: Remand Prisoners: A thematic review, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales
Links: Report | HMCIP press release | APF press release | CMH press release | PRT press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2012-Aug
A report said that 59 per cent of prisons in England and Wales were operating at an overcrowded level. Despite the recent opening of two new prisons with a capacity of 2,500 places, there were still 7,294 more people in the prison system than it was designed and built to hold.
Source: Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile, Prison Reform Trust
Links: Report | PRT press release | APF press release | MJW press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Aug
A joint inspectorate said that many prisons in England paid good attention to the resettlement needs of prisoners. But the work needed to address and change offenders' attitudes and behaviour was not happening to any meaningful extent. Some prisoners, notably sex offenders, were not always able to access the treatment programmes they needed.
Source: Second Aggregate Report on Offender Management in Prisons, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales/HM Chief Inspector of Probation
Links: Report | Inspectorate press release | Labour Party press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jul
An inspectorate report in Northern Ireland said that although life-sentence prisoners were being well managed, there were key areas that required improvement to ensure public protection and confidence in the criminal justice system.
Source: The Management of Life and Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners in Northern Ireland, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland
Links: Report | CJINI press release
Date: 2012-Jul
Date: 2012-Jun
The probation inspectorate said that tagging and curfews were not always being enforced properly, and that the opportunity was being missed to use them to manage offending behaviour.
Source: It s Complicated: The management of electronically monitored curfews, HM Chief Inspector of Probation
Links: Report | HCI Probation press release | HLPR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jun
A study mapped the health needs and healthcare of childbearing women in prison. Childbearing women in prison and their babies were more likely than the general population to experience perinatal and maternal mortality and morbidity, and might also suffer separation and distress that could be alleviated.
Source: Katherine Albertson, Caroline O'Keeffe, Georgina Lessing- Turner, Catherine Burke, and Mary Renfrew, Tackling Health Inequalities Through Developing Evidence-Based Policy and Practice with Childbearing Women in Prison: A consultation, Hallam Centre for Community Justice (Sheffield Hallam University)/Mother and Infant Research Unit, Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Date: 2012-Jun
A study found that every £1 invested in keeping a family together when someone went to prison could save the tax payer £11.
Source: Ben Estep and Natalie Nicholles, Economic Study of Integrated Family Support Programme (IFS), Prison Advice and Care Trust
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jun
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that states had to allow for at least some prisoners to vote (confirming its decision in a previous case against the United Kingdom): but that they had a wide discretion over which prisoners should be allowed to vote, and which should not.
Source: Scoppola v Italy , European Court of Human Rights
Links: Judgement | ECHR press release | UK Human Rights report | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-May
A new book examined the idea that, apart from the general pains of imprisonment, certain characteristics made some prisoners more likely to suffer from 'added pains' – extra difficulties, deprivation, and frustrations. Older prisoners were a key example of a group who experienced added pains of imprisonment. Their weaker appearance, old-fashioned views, and less able bodies were all factors that resulted in them experiencing extra problems within prison.
Source: Natalie Mann, Doing Harder Time? The experiences of an ageing male prison population in England and Wales, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
An article contrasted the existing and likely future state of probation services in England and Wales with their good standing and reputation in the third quarter of the 20th century, and considered whether there were core features of probation that could be identified in its earlier theory and practice that helped to account for this. It traced the recent history of probation services in the context of social and political changes, and questioned how much a probation service that moved away from help towards punishment could still have in common with earlier visions.
Source: Peter Raynor, 'Is probation still possible?', Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 51 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A report examined the recent sharp falls in prison populations experienced by several European countries. It highlighted a number of features in continental justice systems that were associated with a more moderate use of prison. These included: distinctive approaches to young offenders, with higher ages of criminal responsibility and a flexible approach to young adults; large numbers of cases settled by prosecutors rather than proceeding to courts and sentencing; greater availability of mediation and restorative justice options at various stages of the process; less severe sentencing tariffs; and infrequent use of life and indeterminate sentences.
Source: Rob Allen, Reducing the Use of Imprisonment: What can we learn from Europe?, Criminal Justice Alliance
Links: Report
Date: 2012-May
A report examined mediation and restorative justice in prisons, based on research in Hungary, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Belgium.
Source: Tunde Barabas, Borbala Fellegi, and Szandra Windt (eds.), Responsibility-Taking, Relationship-Building and Restoration in Prisons, National Institute of Criminology, Budapest (Hungary)
Links: Report | Foresee press release
Date: 2012-May
An article examined prisoner resettlement in England and Wales. The term 'resettlement' attracted many key assumptions, and societal expectations of what could be achieved might be ideationally and conceptually flawed.
Source: Roger Moore, 'Beyond the prison walls: some thoughts on prisoner "resettlement" in England and Wales', Criminology and Criminal Justice, Volume 12 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Apr
An article examined the underlying motives for the coalition government's review of child protection policy, and investigated the implications of the Munro review for the future of public protection and the probation service generally.
Source: Wendy Fitzgibbon, 'In the eye of the storm: the implications of the Munro child protection review for the future of probation', Probation Journal, Volume 59 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Apr
A new book examined national probation systems in Europe in the light of the Framework Directive (2008) allowing the recognition and supervision of probation measures in a member state other than the one that pronounced the sentence.
Source: Daniel Flore, Stephanie Bosly, Amandine Honhon, and Jacqueline Maggio (eds.), Probation Measures and Alternative Sanctions in the European Union, Intersentia
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
The government began consultation on proposals to make sentences in the community 'more credible', and to reform the probation service so that it was more effective in reducing crime – by extending competition and opening up the management of lower-risk offenders to outside providers.
Source: Punishment and Reform: Effective Community Sentences, Cm 8334, Ministry of Justice, TSO | Punishment and Reform: Effective Probation Services, Cm 8334, Ministry of Justice, TSO
Links: Consultation document (Cm 8334) | Consultation document (Cm 8333) | Hansard | MOJ press release | CBI press release | NAPO press release | Victim Support press release | Works for Freedom press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Mar
A report said that prison overcrowding was undermining the rehabilitation of prisoners. The government needed to take urgent steps to limit the unnecessary use of prison, ensuring that it was reserved for serious, persistent, and violent offenders for whom no alternative sanction was appropriate.
Source: Crowded Out? The impact of prison overcrowding on rehabilitation, Criminal Justice Alliance
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Mar
An inspectorate report in Northern Ireland said that progress in the treatment of prisoners with mental health problems had been 'slow' since a previous review in March 2010.
Source: Not a Marginal Issue: Mental health and the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland – A follow-up review of inspection recommendations, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland
Links: Report | CJINI press release
Notes: 2010 report
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined the recent increase in the number of prisoners recalled each year to prison in England and Wales. It concluded that there should be a review of whether 'sentence review courts' would be more effective in encouraging offenders to earn their way out of prison and off supervision.
Source: Nicola Padfield, 'Recalling conditionally released prisoners in England and Wales', European Journal of Probation, Volume 4 Number 1
Date: 2012-Jan
An article examined the reasons for the sharp rise in prison recall rates in Scotland. Although there were sound reasons for a policy of 'early release' (incentivizing good behaviour and enabling the resettlement of prisoners), in practice early release had increasingly been used as a tool to try to limit the growth in the custodial population.
Source: Beth Weaver, Cyrus Tat, Mary Munro, and Monica Barry, 'The failure of recall to prison: early release, front-door and back-door sentencing and the revolving prison door in Scotland', European Journal of Probation, Volume 4 Number 1
Date: 2012-Jan
A new book examined what was wrong with the prison service. Crime actually proliferated in prison – serious organized crime was allowed to flourish there through bad management, and prisons were a 'multi-million pound investment bank' for the black economy. For many people suffering from social exclusion, prison was a place of safety and preferable to life on the streets. The majority of those leaving prison would quickly reoffend.
Source: John Podmore, Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Biteback Publishing
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Jan
A report said that the prison population was likely to rise further, despite the coalition government's expressed aim to contain and manage prison numbers. The key to reducing record high prison numbers was located in wider social and economic policy and not in changes to community sentences or reforms to criminal justice policy.
Source: Helen Mills and Rebecca Roberts, Reducing the Numbers in Custody: Looking beyond criminal justice solutions, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (King's College London)
Links: Report | CCJS press release
Date: 2012-Jan