tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/prisoner-rehabilitation-16292/articles
Prisoner rehabilitation – The Conversation
2022-09-06T23:29:59Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/189382
2022-09-06T23:29:59Z
2022-09-06T23:29:59Z
Prison turns life upside down – giving low-risk prisoners longer to prepare for their sentences would benefit everyone
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482915/original/file-20220906-14-tj68c5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4221%2C2829&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Almost everyone who’s moved house has a story to tell – the truck was too small, the power got cut off too soon, the cat got lost on the day. Moving house can be stressful, but the better prepared you are, the higher the chances you’ll enjoy the result. </p>
<p>But this is unlikely if you’re <a href="https://www.crcnsw.org.au/get-help/preparing-for-prison/">moving to prison</a>.</p>
<p>When you are arrested and detained in custody – or when your court hearing ends with unexpected imprisonment – there’s no time to sort out feeding the cat, picking kids up from school or redirecting mail. </p>
<p>Currently in New Zealand, only exceptional circumstances mean people get time to prepare for jail. The <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0009/latest/DLM135342.html?src=qs">Sentencing Act</a> permits a two month deferral on humanitarian grounds, such as terminal illness or suicide risk. But there’s no allowance for the normal – and often traumatic – disruption of going to prison in the first place. </p>
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<h2>Fitting your life into a suitcase</h2>
<p>One of my specialist research areas is prison architecture, and it was looking into the issue of prisoner property that first made me think about the transition to prison life. Prisoner property is a largely invisible issue, as most of us rarely think about how prison affects people’s lives. </p>
<p>But prison isn’t simply the removal of someone from society. It’s an extreme example of how architecture can fit or not fit someone’s life. Almost everything we associate with being at home – the ability to control the space we live in, to make choices about how we occupy space, to have things with personal significance around us – is taken away. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sam-uffindell-was-lucky-to-avoid-nzs-criminal-justice-system-as-a-schoolboy-but-it-was-the-right-outcome-188531">Sam Uffindell was lucky to avoid NZ’s criminal justice system as a schoolboy – but it was the right outcome</a>
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<p>The unique power dynamics inherent to prisons make it difficult to separate their built environments from the specific demands of life behind bars. Architecture is always about the way people use buildings; even the banal issue of how much storage space there is. In prison these mundane details become – literally – inescapable. </p>
<p>The challenge of moving, of being in a new space, is amplified in prison. The human aspects of an environment are stripped down to what you can fit into the equivalent space of a small suitcase. </p>
<p>In New Zealand this “suitcase” for stored <a href="https://www.corrections.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/10983/Rules-on-authorised-property-made-under-section-45A-v.12-261120.pdf">prisoner property</a> is 500mm x 400mm x 300mm – less than your checked-in luggage for an <a href="https://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/checked-in-baggage">Air New Zealand</a> flight.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482920/original/file-20220906-12-tlgjx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482920/original/file-20220906-12-tlgjx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482920/original/file-20220906-12-tlgjx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482920/original/file-20220906-12-tlgjx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482920/original/file-20220906-12-tlgjx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482920/original/file-20220906-12-tlgjx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482920/original/file-20220906-12-tlgjx9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Could you fit your life into the equivalent space of checked luggage on a flight?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span>
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<h2>Time to prepare</h2>
<p>Giving as many people as possible time to prepare for prison won’t increase their storage space, but it will enable them to prepare psychologically and get their affairs in order. </p>
<p>As Australia’s <a href="https://justiceaction.org.au/prisoners-right-to-storage/">Justice Action</a> advocacy group explains, going to prison can mean losing things that make a home:</p>
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<p>Every item, gift, photo of loved ones and clothing. Certificates and formal documentation are lost too […] many prisoners […] lose everything except the clothes they were wearing on arrest. </p>
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<p>Having a partner can make some things easier, but not everything. </p>
<p>In some countries, including Norway, Denmark, Sweden and the US federal system, a deferred prison start date is a norm for low-risk prisoners. In the US it’s called <a href="https://www.probationinfo.org/voluntary-surrender-guide/">voluntary or self-surrender</a>. In Norway it’s the “waiting list” or “call up” system. </p>
<p>On the face of it, this sounds positive. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/60/2/363/5529487">Norwegian research</a> found time before prison helped prisoners prepare practically and emotionally. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/overhaul-of-nz-womens-prison-system-highlights-the-risk-and-doubt-surrounding-use-of-force-on-inmates-156848">Overhaul of NZ women's prison system highlights the risk and doubt surrounding use of force on inmates</a>
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<p>One went on a road trip to show his son the prison where he was going to serve time. Another celebrated Christmas with family in November because he’d be in prison in December. Others worked overtime to reduce the financial cost of imprisonment. </p>
<p>People can also investigate what prison life will be like. Some find taking themselves to prison is less humiliating than arriving in a prison van. Importantly, this time also helped prisoners maintain positive relationships after their release.</p>
<p>But it’s not all positive. Waiting can be hard. One interviewee <a href="https://www.uia.no/en/news/being-on-prison-waiting-lists-may-be-a-worse-experience-than-serving-time">told researchers</a>: </p>
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<p>You get worn out mentally, have trouble sleeping and it takes so much time where you just wait and wait and wait and wait […] you live in a sort of vacuum. </p>
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<p>In Norway, some people wait months or years – and this delay doesn’t reduce their overall sentence. This is because the waiting list is to prevent prison overcrowding. It is an alternative to building more prisons, not a way to better prepare people for prison.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-maximum-security-prison-offers-a-pathway-to-academic-excellence-and-a-phd-169625">How a maximum security prison offers a pathway to academic excellence and a PhD</a>
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<h2>A better life after prison</h2>
<p>But that’s no reason why New Zealand couldn’t take this system – in the spirit of Kiwi ingenuity – and import it for positive outcomes. </p>
<p>For example, we could expand the Sentencing Act so that low-risk prisoners have time to arrange power of attorney for their financial and legal matters, or spend time with whānau to better prepare them for life with a family member in prison.</p>
<p>It’s well understood that good reintegration into society after prison can reduce reoffending. The Norwegian research suggests time before prison also matters. </p>
<p>Too little attention is given to the damage caused by uprooting people from their social networks and their homes. Reducing this impact on those going to prison, and who pose no public risk, would be humane. It might also foster better outcomes when prisoners return home.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189382/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine McCarthy is a former president of the Wellington Howard League.</span></em></p>
Prison is far from a home away from home, and offenders get very little time to put their affairs in order after sentencing. More time to adjust for life on the inside would be humane and practical.
Christine McCarthy, Senior lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/169269
2021-11-17T13:13:33Z
2021-11-17T13:13:33Z
Crime control: what South Africa can learn from China
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431478/original/file-20211111-25-1jwmupv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Esther Poon/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Comparative criminology is not just an academic exercise. In view of Africa’s ongoing and deepening <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/where-africa-china-relationship-headed-2021">engagement</a> with China, it is worth asking what South Africa can learn from that culture when it comes to some of its most pressing social problems. </p>
<p>The People’s Republic of China has been <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/CHN/china/crime-rate-statistics">very successful</a> at crime control. For their parts, Western jurisdictions, have demonstrably neglected rehabilitation and <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/recidivism-rates-by-country">failed dismally</a> at resettling former criminals.</p>
<p>With this in mind, I asked in a <a href="http://ojs.tgwsak.co.za/index.php/TGW/article/view/272/259">recent paper</a> what lessons South Africa might take away from a post-Mao era Chinese criminal justice system in terms of crime control.</p>
<p>The cue for my thinking is an <a href="https://openlibrary.org/works/OL18243714W/Prisons_around_the_world">observation</a> by Frederick Allen, a US comparative criminologist. Cross-cultural learning, he said, “provides us with an opportunity to evaluate and understand our own system. It gives us a perspective that is difficult to gain from within our own system.”</p>
<p>I collected and coded data on rehabilitation and resettlement practices of criminal offenders in the People’s Republic of China. This presented a road map for their re-entry into society. The themes selected ranged from resettlement to incarceration. </p>
<p>Here I consider one essential take-away from China to transplant to South Africa. That individual responsibility for crime should be balanced with an understanding of the impact of structural oppressions on crime trends. It’s known, for example, that the structural violence embedded in racism, inequality and unemployment fuels crime.</p>
<p>My study was informed by criminologist John Braithwaite’s <a href="http://johnbraithwaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/1999_Crime-Shame-and-Reintegratio.pdf">seminal distinction</a> between “stigmatising shaming” and “integrative shaming” cultures. He noted that different cultures have different ways to shame people who have been in prison. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ex-offenders-should-be-made-prison-wardens-in-south-africa-heres-why-162316">Ex-offenders should be made prison wardens in South Africa. Here's why</a>
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<p>In societies like the US and South Africa, they are often discriminated against and stigmatised. This drives them away from resettlement and into the arms of criminal sub-cultures. In countries such as China and Japan everything possible is done to resettle ex-offenders and reintegrate them into society. </p>
<p>The argument is that the flowering of this kind of integrative shaming (between 1949 and 1996) in China <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248967367_Crime_prevention_in_a_communitarian_society_Bang-jiao_and_Tiao-jie_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China">reduced recidivism rates</a> – the likelihood of former criminals re-offending. </p>
<p>It is possible to intersperse the data from China with observations on how these could complement existing rehabilitation trends in South African corrections. My findings represent an effort to grow such features in South Africa’s harsh, stigmatising shaming culture. </p>
<h2>Individuals and structural oppression</h2>
<p>For the Chinese, sustainable rehabilitation of ex-offenders is not first prize. In this culture, crime prevention must start at a young age when the correct values should be absorbed by children. </p>
<p>The idea of individual responsibility for crime, however, should be balanced against an understanding of the impact which structural forms of oppression have on crime as triggers. These include inequality, unemployment, poverty, racism and sexism. </p>
<p>As Allen <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/096466399400300407">explains</a>, the Chinese reframe the idea of individual responsibility within a pragmatic perspective: </p>
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<p>Responsibility for deviant behaviour is usually attributed to the external environment … Consequently, the entire rehabilitation process is based on the task of re-educating the offender … to respond to the environment within a socialist orientation.</p>
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<p>Even in the West, criminologists such as <a href="https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/jreiman.cfm">Jeffrey Reiman</a> and the much-cited <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Quinney">Richard Quinney</a> insist on an accounting of the state’s responsibility for creating and maintaining these structural triggers. For example, Robert Weiss has <a href="https://catalog.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/1854529">pointed out</a> that the most consistent relationship with crime is not between unemployment and imprisonment or even between crime and imprisonment. It’s between inequality and imprisonment. </p>
<p>This idea is demonstrated by <a href="https://catalog.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/1854529">research findings</a> in Japan and the Netherlands (and Poland before 1990). Regarding the situation in South Africa, the well-known French economist <a href="https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/transcript-of-nelson-mandela-annual-lecture-2015">Thomas Piketty</a> has recently argued that in terms of ownership inequality and income inequality, South Africa is at the “top of its class”.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uOdIfpRS5CE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Thomas Picketty on South Africa.</span></figcaption>
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<p>South Africa needs to give serious attention to <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-wont-become-less-violent-until-its-more-equal-103116">addressing inequality</a> if it’s committed to combating its runaway <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/514708/south-africas-latest-crime-stats-everything-you-need-to-know-3/">crime rates</a>. But not uncritically so.</p>
<h2>A critical eye on China</h2>
<p>The Chinese have very little patience with re-offending or recidivism. Every year thousands of re-offenders are <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/5740/2017/en/">executed</a> for crimes ranging from petty offences to serious crimes such as murder, robbery and rape. South Africa has an unsustainably high and rising <a href="https://www.umes.edu/uploadedFiles/_WEBSITES/AJCJS/Content/VOL12.1.%20MURHULA%20FINAL.pdf">rate of re-offending</a> (86-94%). This is one of the highest in the world, so the Chinese management of re-offenders should be of particular interest. </p>
<p>Even though the death penalty is outlawed in South Africa, there might be a case for re-introducing it under carefully considered, selected circumstances. A notable Chinese innovation is the imposition of the death penalty suspended for two years. This is to give the offender an opportunity to reform. Nuance is everything.</p>
<p>Similarly, South Africa is a country suffering under endemic and systemic <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-corruption-in-south-africa-isnt-simply-about-zuma-and-the-guptas-113056">trends of corruption</a>. A one-off appeal to the <a href="http://english.court.gov.cn">People’s Court</a> in Beijing is acceptable, but playing for time and wasting valuable judicial resources (as in <a href="https://time.com/6078187/south-africa-courts-ruling-against-jacob-zuma/">the case</a> of South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma) would not be tolerated in China. </p>
<p>But despite an admirable rate of 6%-8% recidivism at the turn of the century, post-Maoist People’s Republic of China is an authoritarian, post-communist, hyper-consumerist society. So South Africans might be cautioned to tolerate a certain level of recidivism. Finland, a Western socialist democracy, for example, has a very acceptable <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1462474512473883">rate of recidivism</a> hovering around 30%.</p>
<h2>Takeaways</h2>
<p>There are many valuable takeaways from the Chinese criminal justice system. These could assist and enrich crime control strategies in South Africa. I explored just one in this article. In my <a href="http://ojs.tgwsak.co.za/index.php/TGW/article/view/272/259">research paper</a> I aim for a nuanced, profound and careful calibration of these ideas for transplanting to South Africa. </p>
<p>The idea of rehabilitation may have become almost redundant under South African conditions. But these ideas derived from the Chinese in the name of cross-cultural comparative criminology could conceivably assist effective crime control in a society still reeling from the trauma of conflicts, past and present.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169269/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Casper Lӧtter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
China has been very successful at crime control while South Africa has neglected rehabilitation and failed dismally at resettling ex-offenders.
Casper Lӧtter, Research fellow, North-West University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162316
2021-07-27T15:24:31Z
2021-07-27T15:24:31Z
Ex-offenders should be made prison wardens in South Africa. Here’s why
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406668/original/file-20210616-3839-7qxk5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An inmate busy in the woodwork area of The Leeuwkop Correctional Facility.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">WIKUS DE WET/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Appointing former prisoners – or ex-offenders – as prison wardens is an international trend in corrections from which South Africa’s <a href="http://www.dcs.gov.za">Department of Correctional Services</a> can take constructive note. This idea has gained traction with <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/national/correctional-services-warns-budget-cuts-will-have-dire-consequences-on-their-mandate/ar-AAKD230?li=BBqfP3n">recent budget cuts</a> in the department. It has informed parliament that its mandate of rehabilitation might be affected negatively because many posts in prisons will remain vacant. </p>
<p>The Department of Correctional Services has <a href="https://www.prison-insider.com/countryprofile/prisonsinsouthafrica">been</a> <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2017-07-18-fact-sheet-the-state-of-south-africas-prisons/">plagued</a> by high levels of violence in prisons as well as a critical shortage of personnel. This is in the context of unsustainable rates of re-offending and little rehabilitation. It’s a circular problem.<br>
One way to break the cycles that return offenders to prison is through the way society treats ex-offenders, providing them with basic human needs such as employment.</p>
<h2>A culture of shaming</h2>
<p>John Braithwaite, one of the West’s most cited criminologists,
<a href="https://www.academia.edu/18502297/Reintegrative_Shaming">noted</a> that different cultures have different ways to shame people who have been in prison. In societies like the US and South Africa, these people are often labelled and stigmatised. </p>
<p>They are pushed to the margins of society, preventing them from settling back into the mainstream and driving them into the arms of criminal sub-cultures. In contrast, cultures such as those found in China in the late 1900s and in Japan have tended to encourage reintegration into society. They have done this by highlighting what the former criminals have in common with other people – a shared ethical perspective. </p>
<p>Typically, stigmatising shaming cultures have high <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/recidivism-rates-by-country">rates of recidivism</a> or re-offending. The rate is <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/292231465/The-Case-for-Treating-Ex-Offenders-as-a-Suspect-Class-pdf">66%</a> in the US. It’s somewhere between <a href="https://umes.edu/uploadedFiles/_WEBSITES/AJCJS/Content/VOL12.1.%20MURHULA%20FINAL.pdf">86% and 94%</a> in South Africa, where it’s more difficult to measure. Integrative shaming cultures have low re-offending figures – China’s at the turn of the century was <a href="http://www.china.org.cn/e-white/criminal/8-2.htm">6%-8%</a>. </p>
<p>When it comes to prison management, appointing ex-offenders as prison wardens not only provides the formerly incarcerated with a livelihood. It also provides the incarcerated population with positive role models with whom they share experiences and a common life trajectory. This represents an invaluable point of departure for integrative, constructive reprimand. </p>
<p>I’ve argued in a <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/tvg/v59n4/03.pdf">recent paper</a> that South Africa should consider implementing this fruitful international approach, among others. </p>
<h2>Evidence from other countries</h2>
<p>In the US, 30 states have begun to employ model ex-offenders after their release from prison. The evidence from China and a great number of US states is that it works, according to reports like <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/01/16/when-your-prison-becomes-your-paycheck">this</a> one by the Marshall Project: </p>
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<p>States do not necessarily track how many (ex-offenders) they have brought aboard. But a few agencies are beginning to formalise programmes, with the explicit goal of reducing the stigma that can follow ex-prisoners as they look for jobs.</p>
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<p>The practice originated in China after the communist takeover in 1949 and <a href="https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/index.htm">Mao’s famous injunction</a> that 95% of all offenders could be successfully remoulded into productive, law-abiding citizens. Scholars have <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Comparing_Prison_Systems.html?id=SK75CBR4BQsC&redir_esc=y">described</a> it as resting on “the idea of <em>ganhua</em> (face) which necessitates a cadre-model to emulate”. To enable a shared ethical perspective, re-integrative shaming demands that the reprimand must originate from a person whom the detainee holds in high regard: the cadre model. </p>
<p>US prison authorities have explained the rationale for <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2018/01/16/when-your-prison-becomes-your-paycheck">the warden initiative</a>: </p>
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<p>We knew that as we were going out every day talking to the business community and asking them to hire our parolees, it would be hypocritical if we wouldn’t hire them ourselves.</p>
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<h2>Benefits for South Africa</h2>
<p>When it comes to ex-offenders, <a href="https://www.koersjournal.org.za/index.php/koers/article/download/2470/2907">South Africa</a> has a harsh stigmatising shaming culture. This means there are high levels of stigma, discrimination and marginalisation following ex-offenders after their release from prison. Earlier <a href="https://www.koersjournal.org.za/index.php/koers/article/view/2470">research</a> has even called for this phenomenon to be recognised as a hate crime. The country also has unsustainable crime and recidivism rates. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-hard-to-leave-a-cape-town-gang-but-these-mens-stories-show-that-its-possible-141208">It's hard to leave a Cape Town gang. But these men's stories show that it's possible</a>
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<p>My research indicates that the country could benefit in three important ways from employing ex-offenders in prisons.</p>
<p>Firstly, international experience has shown that appointing model ex-offenders as prison wardens has led to high-performance service delivery. This is <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/688549.From_Emperor_to_Citizen#:%7E:text=From%20Emperor%20to%20Citizen%20is%20the%20autobiography%20of,man%20who%20was%20the%">measured by</a> the quality of offender-prisoner relationships, among other indicators. Understanding where other offenders come from creates beneficial feedback loops. Serving offenders are <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/tvg/v59n4/03.pdf">more inclined</a> to respect and listen to model ex-offender wardens because they are thought of as “insiders” whose experience helps them understand the pain and challenges of prisoners.</p>
<p>Secondly, the high levels of <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2016/12/27/deputy-minister-to-visit-st-albans-prison-following-violent-attack">violence and discontent</a> in South African prisons could be affected positively by model offenders guiding inmates. The international experience suggests this to be the case. </p>
<p>Thirdly, the greatest challenge to ex-offenders is a <a href="https://repository.uwc.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10566/231/MuntinghExprisonersViews2009.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">lack of employment opportunities</a>, especially in a stigmatising climate and after an economically devastating pandemic. This job would give model ex-offenders a chance of a livelihood, an opportunity for which – provided they comply with the requirements – they are eminently well suited.</p>
<p>South Africa’s Department of Correctional Services would do well to consider the international experience when it comes to employing ex-offenders as wardens. A trial run is now called for.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Casper Lӧtter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
One way to break the cycles that return offenders to prison is through the way society treats ex-offenders, providing them with basic human needs such as employment.
Casper Lӧtter, Research fellow, North-West University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/149161
2020-11-18T18:53:31Z
2020-11-18T18:53:31Z
Serving time: how fine dining in jail is helping prisoners and satisfying customers
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369938/original/file-20201118-15-1swuzbi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C5%2C3484%2C2321&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prison food and fine dining aren’t usually mentioned together. But various initiatives around the world are changing that, with restaurants located within jails offering both culinary satisfaction and opportunities for positive social change.</p>
<p>Prison catering and dining programs aim to tackle re-offending and recidivism by offering inmates training and practical experience before they finish their sentences and re-enter society.</p>
<p>The success of various restaurants based in minimum- or medium-security prisons, including <a href="https://theclinkcharity.org/">The Clink</a> restaurants in the UK, the <a href="https://www.ingalera.it/en/index.html">InGalera</a> restaurant in Italy and <a href="http://restauranteinterno.com/en/">INTERNO</a> in Colombia, suggests a definite trend toward this form of responsible, socially conscious hospitality.</p>
<p>Britain’s Clink Charity operates four restaurants in working prisons in <a href="https://theclinkcharity.org/restaurants/brixton">Brixton</a>, <a href="https://theclinkcharity.org/restaurants/cardiff">Cardiff</a>, <a href="https://theclinkcharity.org/restaurants/high-down">High Down</a> and <a href="https://theclinkcharity.org/restaurants/styal">Styal</a>. All are registered catering colleges. Despite the security measures and no alcohol on the menu, we found these restaurants offer a dining experience comparable to any modern, stylish, fine dining establishment.</p>
<p>Brixton prison’s Clink restaurant <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/ShowUserReviews-g504182-d2172614-r378601844-The_Clink_Restaurant-Sutton_Greater_London_England.html">consistently ranks</a> in Tripadvisor’s top ten restaurants in London. The charity itself has received more than 60 awards since its first restaurant opened in 2009.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1326253720879960064"}"></div></p>
<h2>A hit with diners</h2>
<p>The differences between conventional fine dining establishments and prison restaurants are obvious. But changing public perceptions of prisoners through prison dining programs is key to their wider rehabilitation. </p>
<p>The restaurants are usually staffed by prisoners with six to 18 months left on their sentences. They have completed restorative courses and are lower risk or chosen for their good behaviour.</p>
<p>Analysis of 3,951 Tripadvisor customer reviews of the four Clink restaurants shows diners reported great meals and professional and memorable experiences. They also appreciated the charity’s inspiring ethos. Comments include:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is not every day that you get to dine in a category C prison, but I can strongly recommend it. A great concept where training and rehabilitation are the key drivers here — they deliver excellent quality food in a relatively relaxed environment. Well worth supporting.</p>
<p>Rehabilitation — new chances — go for it. Feelgood experience while enjoying superbly cooked and presented food. Great value. And it’s not just about supporting a good cause, you will appreciate the quality as well.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although these restaurants lie within the walls of a prison, customers noted the warm welcome and the relaxed and friendly atmosphere during their visits, despite the initial security checks (including having to leave their phones and laptops outside).</p>
<p>Importantly, the prisoners staffing the restaurants came to be viewed less as inmates and more as trainee hospitality employees capable of delivering outstanding service.</p>
<h2>Reducing reoffending</h2>
<p>Gaining formal qualifications and training in prison restaurants, as well as having mentoring and support on their release, provides offenders with valuable skills, confidence, dignity and a work ethic that helps them on the outside.</p>
<p>Prison restaurant initiatives also help reduce recidivism. The Clink training programs — based on five stages from recruitment, training, in-prison support to employment and post-prison mentoring — have reduced the chance of a Clink graduate reoffending by 65.6%.</p>
<p>As Clink CEO Christopher Moore has explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The key to the success of The Clink Charity is that we are one of the only organisations to deliver a five-step integrated model, both sides of the wall.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A solution for New Zealand</h2>
<p>Adopting the successful hospitality training model demonstrated by The Clink Charity should be considered for New Zealand. Our <a href="https://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/newsletters_and_brochures/journal/volume_6_issue_1_july_2018/where_new_zealand_stands_internationally_a_comparison_of_offence_profiles_and_recidivism_rates">imprisonment rate is high</a> by developed world standards, with a re-offending rate over 50%.</p>
<p>The low numeracy and literacy skills among New Zealand’s prisoner population, as well as general substance abuse and mental health issues, suggest an urgent need for innovative solutions to reoffending and reincarceration rates. It is widely accepted that education reduces recidivism rates.</p>
<p>Adding prison dining programs would build on existing opportunities for inmates. In 2018, 2,017 New Zealand prisoners gained 3,003 qualifications. Hospitality qualifications are offered in <a href="https://www.corrections.govt.nz/resources/newsletters_and_brochures/service_industries">13 New Zealand prisons</a>, but there are few genuine equivalents to the Clink model beyond <a href="https://www.visawoap.com/rimutaka-update-2020?utm_source=social&utm_medium=linktree&utm_campaign=Rimutaka">Rimutaka Prison</a>’s participation in the Wellington on a Plate festival, and the Auckland Region Women’s Correction Facility <a href="https://www.corrections.govt.nz/about_us/getting_in_touch/our_locations/auckland_region_womens_corrections_facility">cafe</a>.</p>
<p>Creating change will be difficult, but prison dining programs have demonstrated success in increasing prisoners’ skills, social support and meaningful employment in the hospitality industry after release.</p>
<p>Furthermore, such programs provide restaurant goers with an opportunity to contribute to meaningful change and help break down stereotypes that hold former prisoners back from making a successful transition from cell to society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Training restaurants housed inside prison walls and staffed by inmates are reducing recidivism rates and winning praise from diners overseas. Should we try them in New Zealand?
Alison McIntosh, Professor of Tourism, Auckland University of Technology
Maria Gebbels, Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Management, University of Greenwich
Tracy Harkison, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader, School of Hospitality and Tourism, Auckland University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/116541
2019-05-13T08:06:08Z
2019-05-13T08:06:08Z
Government plan to follow Scotland on scrapping shorter jail sentences may not be the fix UK prisons need
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273815/original/file-20190510-183080-u1tcgi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The UK imprisons more people than any other country in Western Europe per head of population.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/prison-sign-uk-62859043">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>Long enough to cause damage and not long enough to heal … You bring somebody in for three or four weeks, they lose their house, their job, their family, their reputation. They … meet a lot of “interesting characters” and then … [they’re] on the streets again.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The UK has the <a href="https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN04334">highest rates of incarceration</a> in Western Europe and a prison population that has doubled in 25 years. As the then justice minister Rory Stewart outlined in January 2019 (above), short prison sentences appear to be of marginal benefit. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/atta">Reconviction rates</a> in England and Wales suggest that short custodial sentences are the worst possible sentencing option.</p>
<p>Adult offenders have a proven re-offending rate of 29.2%. However, those sentenced to a custodial term of less than 12 months have a proven re-offending rate of 64.4%. A proven re-offence is any offence committed within a year of release that leads to a conviction, caution, reprimand or warning. </p>
<p>On the basis of these figures, short prison sentences are staggeringly inefficient if the purpose of punishment is to reduce crime. Meaningful rehabilitation is unlikely if someone is in prison only for a few weeks. Any immediate gain in crime reduction is quickly offset on release if the factors identified by Stewart increase the risk of entrenched criminal behaviour.</p>
<p>No wonder the UK government <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46847162">plans to introduce</a> a presumption against imprisoning offenders for less than six months. The aspiration is that those who would have received such a sentence will receive a community sentence instead. Stewart recognised that such a proposal would be likely to face opposition, not least from his own colleagues in the Conservative Party. But he was clear that it was a battle that he must win. </p>
<p>There is another inducement for the government: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/780612/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly-september-2018.pdf">40,919 offenders</a> received a custodial sentence of less than six months in the year to September 2018; removing such a sizeable number of prisoners would ease overcrowding. This would allow staff to work more intensively with longer-term prisoners, and could help to reduce rates of violence, self-harm and suicide – assuming that there was no corresponding cut to the prison budget.</p>
<h2>The Scottish system</h2>
<p>Will the proposal work? It is worth reviewing the evidence from Scotland. <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2010/13/contents">The Criminal Justice and Licencing (Scotland) Act 2010</a> provides that a court must not pass a prison sentence of three months or less unless it deems that no other method of dealing with the offender is appropriate.</p>
<p>It is important to stress that – as with the English proposal – short prison sentences have not been abolished, rather there is a presumption against their use. The Scottish government’s <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/justice-scotland-vision-priorities/">Justice Vision and Priorities</a> document announced that the presumption would be extended from three months to 12 months.</p>
<p>Surely the fact that the Scottish government plans to extend the presumption against short sentences suggests success? Not according to Scottish prison statistics. In 2011-12, the average daily prison population stood at 8,179. By 2017-18 it had <a href="https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/TrendPris">dropped</a> to 7,464.</p>
<p>However, the latest figure is consistent with a drop that pre-dated the introduction of the presumption against short sentences. Other factors – such as the number of offenders being sentenced – help account for these trends. Despite the presumption, 27% of the 11,943 people who received a prison sentence in 2017-18 were <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/criminal-proceedings-scotland-2017-18/pages/1/">jailed for up to three months</a>.</p>
<h2>Lessons to be learned</h2>
<p>Why has the effect been, at best, marginal then? <a href="https://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/03/3800">Research</a> by the Scottish government in 2015 found that 56% of <a href="http://www.scotland-judiciary.org.uk/36/0/Sheriffs">sheriffs</a> (legally qualified judges who deal with the majority of civil and criminal court cases in Scotland) agreed that the presumption <a href="https://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/03/3800">had made little or no difference</a> to their sentencing practice. In fact, 28% of Sheriffs agreed that the presumption led them to give slightly longer sentences than they otherwise would have done in some cases – an obvious way to evade the policy.</p>
<p>Two lessons should be learned here. The first is that the presumption will not work if it is too easy for judges to circumvent. Departure from the norm should require a convincing justification. It should require more than a claim that no other sentence was appropriate.</p>
<p>The second is that it may be more effective to think of types of offence that normally should not result in imprisonment. Cyrus Tata, director of the <a href="https://www.strath.ac.uk/humanities/lawschool/centreforlawcrimeandjustice/aboutus/">Centre for Law, Crime and Justice</a> at Strathclyde University, <a href="https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/55969/1/Tata_SJM2016_how_can_prison_sentencing_be_reduced.pdf">makes the point</a> that sentence length is an imperfect proxy for the seriousness of an offence.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/273818/original/file-20190510-183106-1wfpyb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">British prisons have a serious overcrowding problem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/reading-december-4-exhibition-inside-artists-530226511">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Focusing on the type of offence may be a more honest way of determining who should go to prison. For example, whether it is ever appropriate to imprison a thief. Theft is prevalent and is not a victimless offence. The question though is whether punishment is proportionate to the gravity of the offence. Apart from exceptional cases, we would argue that prison is a disproportionate punishment in cases of theft. England and Wales have a developed system of sentencing guidelines, unlike Scotland, so some of this exercise has already taken place.</p>
<p>We welcome the UK government’s recognition that prison can be harmful and counter-productive. Advocating a policy aimed at sending fewer offenders to prison carries political risk. Scottish experience though suggests that more is required. The onus must be placed on judges to provide detailed and compelling reasons as to why departure from the presumption is warranted in a particular case. Consideration should also be given as to whether there should be a rapid means of reviewing the judge’s reasoning.</p>
<p>Two things are clear. Reconviction rates in England and Wales show that short prison sentences are staggeringly ineffective. But equally, what has happened in Scotland demonstrates that a presumption against short sentences is not in itself going to provide a remedy in terms of reducing the prison population. In the longer term, we need to have a meaningful debate about what offences merit a custodial sentence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116541/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gavin Dingwall serves on the Research Advisory Group of the Howard League for Penal Reform. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Gallagher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Evidence from Scotland reveals the presumption against shorter sentences has shown little reduction in prison numbers.
Gavin Dingwall, Professor of Criminal Justice Policy, De Montfort University
Jessica Gallagher, Lecturer, Criminal Justice Policy, De Montfort University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/108445
2018-12-11T14:21:45Z
2018-12-11T14:21:45Z
Prison is expensive – worth remembering when we oppose parole
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249787/original/file-20181210-76977-1g298ia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Neil Lang/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The parole board recently decided to grant the release of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/david-mcgreavy-child-killer-worcester-monster-prison-jail-release-parole-board-murder-a8667066.html">David McGreavy</a>, who in 1973, aged 21, murdered and mutilated three children and impaled their bodies on railings at their home in which he was a lodger. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum tariff of 20 years. As in the case of others who have murdered children, such as Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, McGreavy has served many years past his recommended term, and has been <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-36623663">repeatedly unsuccessful</a> in his efforts to gain parole. </p>
<p>But now McGreavy has been cleared for release after a 45-year stint in prison. The parole board reported that he has “<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/03/triplechild-killer-david-mcgreavy-cleared-released-parole-board/">changed considerably</a>”, noting improved self-control and an ability to remain calm in stressful situations. There are many who have opined that McGreavy should live out the rest of his life in prison, just as there are many who believe the <a href="https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/david-mcgreavy-to-be-released-from-woodbridge-prison-1-5809665">death penalty should have applied</a> (despite having been largely abolished in the UK in 1965). Such shocking cases prompt questions about whether mandatory life sentences for those who kill are suitable: should we lock up murderers for good and throw away the key? Or would a gentler system of restorative justice, such as in Norway, bring benefits to both the imprisoned and society?</p>
<h2>Sentencing in the UK</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/about-sentencing/types-of-sentence/life-sentences/">sentencing guidelines</a> for England and Wales dictate that convicted murderers receive a mandatory life sentence, generally starting at 15 years without parole, but which will vary depending on <a href="https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/sentencing-mandatory-life-sentences-murder-cases">aggravating and mitigating factors</a>, and whether the defendant has pleaded guilty, has previous convictions, and if the offence was committed while on bail. Ultimately, it is down to the judge’s discretion to set the minimum length of time a prisoner will spend in prison. But whole-life sentences are rare. Only around <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2018">63 people</a> are currently serving these sentences, such as Peter Sutcliffe (the “Yorkshire Ripper”) and serial killer Rosemary West.</p>
<p>The convicted murderer <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/jan/17/european-judges-uphold-uk-right-to-impose-whole-life-jail-sentences">Arthur Hutchinson</a> took a case to the European Court of Human Rights in 2017 claiming that his whole-life sentence with no hope for release amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. He received a whole-life order for the triple murder of a family on their daughter’s wedding day, later raping a young woman in the wedding marquee and stealing from the murdered family’s home. </p>
<p>However the court found that his human rights under Article 3 of the convention had not been breached. As “exceptional grounds” may allow for the early release of someone detained under a whole-life order, this <a href="https://academic.oup.com/hrlr/article/14/1/59/667050">slim prospect of release</a> ensures the UK approach is compatible with European human rights law.</p>
<h2>Sentencing in Norway</h2>
<p>Mandatory sentence minimums and whole-life sentences contrast starkly with the approach in Norway, which is known for focusing on rehabilitation in prison, and also has among the world’s <a href="https://salve.edu/sites/default/files/filesfield/documents/Incarceration_and_Recidivism.pdf">lowest rates of reoffending</a>.</p>
<p>Norway’s criminal justice system is distinct from that of the UK and other Anglo-Saxon nations. It has no life sentence. The <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/05/why-does-norway-have-a-21-year-maximum-prison-sentence.html">maximum term of imprisonment is 21 years</a>, although this sentence can be extended by five-year increments through “<a href="https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-244X-11-40">preventative detention</a>”. </p>
<p>Based on a <a href="https://www.norwegianamerican.com/opinion/what-is-restorative-justice/">restorative justice</a> model that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and with society at large, Norway’s criminal justice system shifts the emphasis from retribution to healing. Characterised by high levels of <a href="https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.staffs.ac.uk/doi/10.1177/1462474513504799">social trust</a>, low security, favourable living conditions and low incarceration rates, the Norwegian approach has come to be known as <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/48/2/119/422635">Scandinavian penal exceptionalism</a>. Such approaches have been found to reduce crime, reduce the economic burden of imprisoning criminals, and <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2011/09/terror-trial-and-justice-in-norway/">reduce recidivism</a>.</p>
<p>That’s why Norwegian extremist <a href="http://fixthe13th.org/img/Norway%20Prison%20Rehabilitation.pdf">Anders Behring Breivik</a>, who killed 77 people in a bombing and mass shooting, was only sentenced to 21 years imprisonment. Despite the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/16/crush-terrorist-lessons-norway-breivik">incredulity</a> of those from countries that focus on more prolonged incarcaration such as the UK and US, the victims’ families welcomed the sentence. Even so, Breivik was unimpressed by the conditions for prisoners and pursued a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/anders-breivik-norway-mass-murderer-appeal-european-human-rights-court-oslo-strasbourg-a8409861.html">human rights appeal</a> which, as with Hutchinson’s case, was unsuccessful.</p>
<h2>Which works best?</h2>
<p>There is no consensus on an optimal policy. But it would appear that Norway’s approach leads with its respect for human dignity – which is often mischaracterised as leniency. With a reported <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2017/05/27/too-many-prisons-make-bad-people-worse-there-is-a-better-way?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/ed/prisonstoomanyprisonsmakebadpeopleworsethereisabetterway">recidivism rate of only 20%</a> – compared to <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751109/proven_reoffending_bulletin_October_to_December_16.pdf">between around 30% and 65%</a> in England and Wales, depending on the category of offender, and upwards of <a href="https://www.nij.gov/topics/corrections/recidivism/Pages/welcome.aspx">67% within three years of release</a> in the US – it would seem that a softer approach to prison works. </p>
<p>However, some researchers argue that recidivism data <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0130390">cannot be compared between countries</a> due to significant variations in how recidivism is defined and reported. In fact recidivism rates in Norway have been found to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011128715570629?journalCode=cadc">range from 14% to 42%</a> depending on the sample and measured outcomes.</p>
<p>But we cannot disregard the huge economic burden on taxpayers of the costs required to house a growing number of criminals. In the UK, it has been estimated at <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN04334/SN04334.pdf">£22,993 per prisoner per year</a>, by which ready reckoning it has cost more than £1m to imprison McGreavy for the past 45 years, despite the fact that it is well-established that murderers have one of the lowest recidivism rates of any group. </p>
<p>The benefit of the <a href="http://sociologyindex.com/rehabilitative_ideal.htm">rehabilitative ideal</a> is that kinder, rather than more brutal prisons are the most <a href="https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/09627250508553609.pdf">cost-effective way</a> of dealing with the threat to general welfare posed by criminality. Accepting this paradox and stepping away from the retaliatory approach requires an objective stance on criminal justice that strives to remain uninfluenced by the moral implications or the subjective impact on the victim and their family. </p>
<p>With an imprisonment rate of <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/300986/incarceration-rates-in-oecd-countries/">141 per 100,000 people</a> (or 120 per 100,000 for the UK as a whole), England and Wales is far from that rehabilitative ideal, albeit far below that of the US, with 655 per 100,000 people. Norway’s incarceration rate is around half that, at <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/300986/incarceration-rates-in-oecd-countries/">74 per 100,000</a>. A pragmatic and objective approach to restorative justice that looks to minimise the figurative and literal costs to society will perhaps be one that can overcome the perception that, in criminal justice, “<a href="http://sociologyindex.com/nothing_works.htm">nothing works</a>”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108445/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tawney Bennett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The ‘Monster of Worcester’ would have been released 24 years ago in Norway - would that have been better for everyone?
Tawney Bennett, Lecturer in Law, Staffordshire University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/95836
2018-05-08T11:40:53Z
2018-05-08T11:40:53Z
Charities left out of pocket by probation scheme for ex-offenders
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217751/original/file-20180504-166890-d0h6un.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Transforming Rehabilitation strategy was meant to have charities at the centre of it. But they've been pushed to the margins. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cuthbertdesign.com/">Photo courtesy of Clinks/Nilaari Agency © Ian Cuthbert </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Governments generally like charities and voluntary organisations. Time and again ministers say they want to harness the voluntary sector to improve public services. In 2014, the British government said <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/voluntary-sector-at-forefront-of-new-fight-against-reoffending">the sector</a> would be “at the forefront of a new fight against reoffending”. But the reality is sharply different, according to our <a href="https://www.clinks.org/sites/default/files/basic/files-downloads/clinks_track-tr_under_final-web.pdf">new research</a>.</p>
<p>We’ve found that the voluntary sector has been sidelined and under resourced in the government’s new system for managing offenders once they leave prison – yet it’s propping that very system up at the same time. As a result, there’s a risk charities may decide to withdraw or boycott these public service schemes in the future.</p>
<p>Recent high-profile <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-oxfam-can-learn-from-charities-that-survived-scandals-92197">scandals</a> have put charities and voluntary organisations under the spotlight. But the voluntary sector is still frequently praised for its work and encouraged to get more involved in turning around the lives of society’s most vulnerable people.</p>
<p>A prime example is the <a href="https://www.clinks.org/criminal-justice/transforming-rehabilitation">Transforming Rehabilitation</a> programme, started by the Conservative-led coalition government, to change the way offenders are supervised before and after they leave prison. In 2015, the existing system of probation <a href="https://theconversation.com/fears-for-offender-rehabilitation-as-britain-embraces-us-style-probation-42726">was dismantled</a>, and the bulk of the work was transferred through 21 contracts across England and Wales to new Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). </p>
<p>The government told the voluntary sector that its involvement in the new system would be part of a “revolution” in working with offenders, such as in programmes to extend mentoring schemes for prisoners nearing release. The CRCs are now paid for the results they achieve in reducing reoffending. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cracks-are-growing-in-the-uks-prison-and-probation-service-82667">Cracks are growing in the UK's prison and probation service</a>
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<p>The programme was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/30/probation-service-privatisation-plans-chris-grayling">heavily criticised</a> when it was introduced and has continued to <a href="https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprobation/media/press-releases/2017/12/annualreport2017/">come under fire</a> as the system has settled down. MPs on the Justice Select Committee are <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/justice-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/transforming-rehabilitation-17-19/">currently holding an inquiry</a> into the Transforming Rehabilitation programme.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, performance in reducing reoffending rates has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/03/private-firms-fail-cut-rates-reoffending-low-medium-risk-offenders">underwhelming</a>. Yet the government has continued to pump <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Investigation-into-changes-to-Community-Rehabilitation-Company-contracts.pdf">more money into the CRCs</a> to support the work.</p>
<h2>Charities on the margins</h2>
<p>Over the last three years we’ve carried out surveys tracking the role and experience of voluntary organisations in the new rehabilitation system as part of a project called TrackTR, in association with <a href="https://www.clinks.org/">Clinks</a>, the umbrella body for voluntary organisations working with offenders and their families, and the <a href="https://www.ncvo.org.uk/">National Council for Voluntary Organisations</a>.</p>
<p>Despite the government’s official rhetoric, the voluntary sector finds itself at the margins of the new system. When it comes to the organisations which have led <a href="https://www.clinks.org/sites/default/files/table-of-new-owners-of-crcs.pdf">winning bids for CRC contracts</a>, private companies dominate. Very large voluntary organisations appear to have found a role in these contracts as junior partners or sub-contractors, but smaller organisations are largely overlooked. And many of the partnerships with voluntary sector organisations appear unsustainable. </p>
<p>Half of the sub-contracted voluntary organisations say their contracts are unsustainable, 37% say they’ve had to subsidise service delivery with other funding sources, and 35% have used their own reserves to support services. </p>
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<p>Voluntary organisations told us they face increasing pressure to provide low-cost, short-term services, and think the quality of services has suffered as a result. The volume of offenders dealt with in the new system appears to have become more important than making a lasting difference. As a research participant from a voluntary organisation involved in the programme told us:</p>
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<p>Our focus has shifted from client facing one-to-one support to delivering workshops and surgeries so that we can generate the volumes required. </p>
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<p>The system appears to rely on voluntary organisations donating their own time and resources to support ex-offenders, whether they receive funding for this or not. Two thirds of voluntary organisations receive referrals of clients from CRCs without payment – this is simply not sustainable. The net effect is that the voluntary sector has ended up subsidising a core public service run largely by private organisations. </p>
<h2>Outsourcing obstacles</h2>
<p>The voluntary sector’s experience in this area begs questions about the bigger picture for public services. Transforming Rehabilitation continues a near 30-year process of public service reform – across governments of different shades – where ministers claim the voluntary sector should and will be centrally involved. </p>
<p>Politicians have chosen to think and talk about reforming public services along “market” lines, where new providers from the private and voluntary sectors are brought in to compete for service contracts, to shake things up a bit and drive costs down. But this whole approach is under greater critical scrutiny in the light of the recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/carillion-qanda-the-consequences-of-collapse-and-what-the-government-should-do-next-90252">collapse</a> of commercial outsourcing firm Carillion and reported <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42885211">financial difficulties at others</a>. A change in thinking may be in the air, which could see future governments reconsider the strategy of contracting out <a href="http://www.smith-institute.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Out-of-contract-Time-to-move-on-from-the-%E2%80%98love-in%E2%80%99-with-outsourcing-and-PFI.pdf">central and local government services</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/carillion-capita-and-the-costly-contradictions-of-outsourcing-public-services-91030">Carillion, Capita and the costly contradictions of outsourcing public services</a>
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<p>The voluntary sector has tried to play a part in these <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255288/OpenPublicServices-WhitePaper.pdf">“open” public services</a>, using its voice and expertise to shape and deliver new services, yet with mixed results in different services and localities. Many organisations seem to fare rather badly, and face a bruising experience. They may wonder whether it is worth staying involved or withdrawing altogether. </p>
<p>The government should seriously reconsider how public services are organised, and voluntary organisations can help lead the debate about new ways of delivering services.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95836/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Macmillan currently receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and from Local Trust. The research underpinning this article was funded by Clinks, the national membership body that supports and represents the voluntary sector working in criminal justice.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Rees receives funding from the Lloyds Bank Foundation, National Institute for Health Research, and Erasmus+. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vita Terry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
New research shows how the charity sector has been sidelined in the Transforming Rehabilitation programme.
Rob Macmillan, Principal Research Fellow, Sheffield Hallam University
James Rees, Anthony Nutt Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership, The Open University
Vita Terry, Research Fellow at the Centre for Voluntary Sector Leadership, The Open University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/88803
2017-12-14T09:52:22Z
2017-12-14T09:52:22Z
Despite public outrage, web access for prisoners isn’t a luxury item – here’s why
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198781/original/file-20171212-9396-zfdnwd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/529712440?src=gFUfuacsERp2bypCgVJgQQ-1-12&size=huge_jpg">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The UK’s prisons are slowly catching up with the digital age. But in an era of austerity and turmoil, introducing inmates to technologies that many of us take for granted is – for some – alarming.</p>
<p>My research shows that digital progress in prisons allows offenders to order their own meals, book visits, contact home, undertake e-learning, manage their finances, improve their health and prepare for release. </p>
<p>Prisoners using web-based tools to manage their daily lives is good for society. It’s also an opportunity for prison staff to work with inmates to help them rehabilitate.</p>
<p>However, prisoners’ relationships with technology isn’t neutral and there are challenges in this changing landscape. I have observed that, when granted access to TV in their cells, they withdraw from their surroundings and are less dependent on fellow inmates.</p>
<p>But it also resonates beyond prison walls. Gary, one of my respondents, explained how he feels cut off from the outside world now that digital communication dominates so many of our lives:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Emails now rapidly replace letters and very few people even consider letter writing any more. I have been in the prison system for six years so far with another 16 to go … I am in the position where I can watch as everything changes … Some of us even find those people you grew up with or once were so close to, forget you’re there because you’re no longer around digitally.</p>
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<p>Gary’s “digital lag” experience could have adverse effects once he is released. But while the “digital prison” could potentially save taxpayers’ money, it is still undecided if it will improve life behind bars.</p>
<h2>Lockdown: the e-prison</h2>
<p>There are small pockets of progress in countries experimenting with digital offerings for inmates. In Belgium, a “secure” digital service called <a href="https://www.ebo-enterprises.com/prisoncloud">PrisonCloud</a> is used in prison cells. It looks and feels like a typical setup, with access to a range of software, television and film, telecommunications, desktop programmes and e-learning gateways. </p>
<p>The service “offers web access through different categories like healthcare, job search, e-learning and others, where security is key”, said Benny Goedbloed, chief developer of PrisonCloud.</p>
<p>“The inmate has no url bar, the solution is able to block all buttons and form fields without denying the ability to read, listen or view videos on the selected web pages.”</p>
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<p>In Australia, e-learning opportunities are taken seriously and many jails provide tablet devices where inmates can access online courses and reading materials. </p>
<p>Like Belgium, these devices are locked down. While prisoners have digital access, freedom to surf the web is denied. Instead, <a href="https://eprints.usq.edu.au/27040/11/Pike_Farley_Hopkins_TC2015_SV.pdf">secure systems prevent them reaching the outside world</a> with access limited to a <a href="https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2541/walled-garden-technology">walled garden</a>.</p>
<p>Devices are linked to a prison server and guards are alerted if an offender – whose every finger stroke is recorded – attempts to hack the system or use a tablet or laptop for nefarious means. </p>
<p>Such security measures have led to some countries gaining confidence in moving towards digitisation behind bars. </p>
<p>In England and Wales, a project is underway to implement and test a model similar to the one in Belgium. In-cell telephony and self-service kiosks where prisoners can manage their visits, order things from the prison shop and make requests have been established for some time now. However, there is a systematic plan to enable digital opportunities in all prisons.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-38912208">HMP Berwyn</a>, which opened earlier this year, is giving prisoners basic and securely locked laptops allowing them to access <a href="http://www.unilink.com/solutions/self-service/">self-service</a> rehabilitative programmes and support in custody. But use of these devices isn’t widespread: they appear in a very small number of UK prisons with few inmates gaining routine access.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting, however, that the government – perhaps wary of a potential public outcry – has declined to reveal how many digital devices are being used across prisons in England and Wales.</p>
<p>Eventually, one can expect that digital services in British prisons will become the norm – driven by priorities to keep the public safe and rehabilitate the prisoner. But nationally and internationally, the e-prison is yet to be adopted at scale.</p>
<h2>Boredom is mental poison</h2>
<p>Being online is, for most people, part of their everyday lives from watching TV to communicating with friends and family to applying for jobs and managing money. A prison sentence disrupts digital literacy, which can lead to increased isolation, loneliness, boredom, frustration and anger. My earlier <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137443908">research on in-cell TV</a> found that prisons are poor on communication and this leads to boredom. </p>
<p>Leon, another research respondent, told me: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Boredom is poisonous, it is mental poison. You can easily get distressed and suicidal in here. TV keeps you occupied. Even just changing the channels using the remote, it keeps you focused.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such an emotive response can be detrimental to prisoners serving time productively and safely.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198782/original/file-20171212-9396-1l5m6ci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198782/original/file-20171212-9396-1l5m6ci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198782/original/file-20171212-9396-1l5m6ci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198782/original/file-20171212-9396-1l5m6ci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=298&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198782/original/file-20171212-9396-1l5m6ci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198782/original/file-20171212-9396-1l5m6ci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198782/original/file-20171212-9396-1l5m6ci.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The prison population for England and Wales stood at 85,997 on September 30, 2017, official figures show.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/655150/Offender_Management_Statistics_Bulletin_Q2_2017.pdf">Ministry of Justice and the Office for National Statistics</a></span>
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<p>My research indicates that television, radio and digital services result in therapeutic outcomes for many inmates. Coping and surviving prison is a key part of rehabilitation and digital technology can help them achieve this. </p>
<p>But it also helps prisons run more efficiently by making systems and processes easier, saving time and reducing incidents. Recent <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11292-017-9303-5">findings</a> by Professor McDougall and colleagues support my research. </p>
<h2>Public opinion</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2987950/hmp-berwyn-wrexham-uk-cells-cost/">perceived anxiety and fear</a> persists that prisoners will use laptops and tablets to commit criminal offences. While this is a valid concern, it has also been argued that they should be denied luxury, pleasure or even basic opportunities.</p>
<p>The idea, previously floated by then justice secretary Michael Gove, that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/may/17/skype-ipads-in-cell-education-prison-legislation-queens-speech">iPads should be dished out to prisoners</a> is distasteful to some. But such opinions hinder digital progress. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://icpa.ca/public-acceptability-survey-on-the-prisoners-access-to-digital-technology-emerging-results/">recent survey</a> I developed with a cyberpsychologist on the acceptability of digital technology in prisons revealed that the British public was largely supportive of this progress. As long as security assurances are maintained, time in prison should help people return to society better prepared to live a life free of crime. </p>
<p>Notably, prisoners aren’t getting unfettered digital access and the benefits extend beyond the walls of the prison and have the potential to help us all. But, for now, uptake of digital services in UK prisons is a postcode lottery.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88803/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Victoria Knight does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Digital and communication poverty is unhelpful – depriving prisoners is short-sighted.
Dr Victoria Knight, Senior Research Fellow in Community and Criminal Justice, De Montfort University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/72279
2017-03-02T19:08:52Z
2017-03-02T19:08:52Z
Women who commit violent crimes need programs to help them while in prison
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158824/original/image-20170228-29911-wuygzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A large proportion of incarcerated women are there for violent offences.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women make up a <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2016%7EMain%20Features%7EPrisoner%20characteristics,%20Australia%7E4">small segment</a> (8%) of the Australian prisoner population. The majority have committed <a href="https://njca.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Kilroy-Debbie-Women-in-Prison-in-Australia-paper.pdf">minor non-violent offences</a>. </p>
<p>The tragic case of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-16/who-was-ms-dhu/8128440">Ms Dhu</a>, who died in police custody in Western Australia after being detained for non-payment of fines has rightly led to questions about <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-locking-up-too-many-women-but-the-uk-offers-a-blueprint-for-a-radical-new-approach-65043">why these women are put in prison</a> in the first place. Largely absent from this conversation are women who commit <a href="http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/0/5CE97E870F7A29EDCA2578A200143125/$File/12340_2011.pdf">violent crime</a>, and the lack of targeted programs in place to support them.</p>
<h2>Women in prison</h2>
<p>Incarceration rates for women have skyrocketed in <a href="https://njca.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Kilroy-Debbie-Women-in-Prison-in-Australia-paper.pdf">Australia</a> and <a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Incarcerated-Women-and-Girls.pdf">elsewhere</a>. Over the previous decade (2006-2016) in Australia the number of women <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2016%7EMain%20Features%7EPrisoner%20characteristics,%20Australia%7E4">sentenced for a violent offence</a> increased by more than 50%. Violent crimes are typically offences that include force such as assault, homicide and robbery. While less common for women than men, they often attract a prison sentence. </p>
<p>Those with violent offences make up a significant proportion of the female prisoner population. In 2016, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2016%7EMain%20Features%7EPrisoner%20characteristics,%20Australia%7E4">39% of women</a> in Australian prisons were convicted of, or awaiting sentencing for, violent offences. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women were <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/4517.02016?OpenDocument">overrepresented</a> in these statistics – 51% incarcerated for violent offences compared to 33% among non-Aboriginal women. </p>
<p>Are women simply becoming <a href="http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/why-the-representation-of-women-in-prison-is-on-the-rise/news-story/1d77077f5301e9b2fbc4edfa02651e5a">more violent</a>, or are <a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/62478/1/10_Carrington_5_Sep_13.pdf">other factors</a> driving the upward trend? While debate continues around these questions, it is clear some women respond to their circumstances with violence and find themselves in prison for it.</p>
<p>There is no question men commit most violent crime in Australia. Women, <a href="http://www.dpmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/Aboriginal%20and%20Torres%20Strait%20Islander%20HPF%202014%20-%20edited%2014%20Oct%202015.pdf">especially Aboriginal women</a>, are overwhelmingly the victims of this violence. Not surprisingly, <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/06_2014/sap_updated_26june.pdf">stopping men’s violence</a>, particularly against women and children, is high on research and policy agendas. </p>
<p>But our understanding about women who offend violently is limited.</p>
<h2>Responding with violence</h2>
<p>Globally, the treatment and rehabilitative needs of female prisoners with histories of violence have been <a href="http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/6/09-066928/en/">neglected</a>. Programs developed for men are often adopted or adapted for women. This is especially problematic for women who offend violently. </p>
<p>Growing evidence shows the motivations for, and consequences of, violence <a href="http://www.victimsofcrime.org/docs/Information%20Clearinghouse/a-review-of-research-on-women's-use-of-violence-with-male-intimate-partners.pdf?sfvrsn=6">differ between men and women</a>. This demands a tailored response. </p>
<p>Women may use violence for reasons <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/107780102237408">commonly linked with men’s violence</a>, such as retribution, jealousy and control. However, women who display violent behaviours are more likely than men to have experienced childhood physical and sexual abuse, have histories of trauma, and experience mental health and substance use issues. These are known <a href="http://www.victimsofcrime.org/docs/Information%20Clearinghouse/a-review-of-research-on-women's-use-of-violence-with-male-intimate-partners.pdf?sfvrsn=6">risk factors</a> for using violence against others in adulthood. </p>
<p>Women tend to know their victim, and in many cases report using violence in self-defence. Even in relationships where both parties use violence, women experience <a href="http://www.victimsofcrime.org/docs/Information%20Clearinghouse/a-review-of-research-on-women's-use-of-violence-with-male-intimate-partners.pdf?sfvrsn=6">graver detrimental effects</a> such as physical injury, depression and anxiety. </p>
<p>We <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244016686814">recently conducted research</a> with the assistance of the Department of Corrective Services and service providers in Western Australia. We found violence was an enormous presence in the lives of 84 incarcerated Aboriginal mothers in WA. </p>
<p>The majority (88%) had extensive histories of violent victimisation, along with experiences of abuse, trauma and substance use. Many (69%) reported using violence themselves. </p>
<p>Reacting with violence, frequently in response to an abusive partner’s violence, often resulted in serious consequences to the woman. This included injury to herself and others, removal of children from her care, emotional turmoil and imprisonment.</p>
<p>In our study, a number of women described being unable to secure parole because of histories of violence and being seen as a “risk” to the community. </p>
<p>But no program to address their use of violence was available to them at the time. Some spoke about wanting to take part in such a program to better understand why they used violence, and learn strategies to avoid doing so in the future.</p>
<h2>Addressing this gap</h2>
<p>The challenge is that unlike for men, there are few intensive evidence-based prevention programs designed to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/448859/effective-interventions-for-women-offenders.pdf">target women’s use of violence</a>. Without these, women will inevitably spend more time in prison away from their children, families and communities. This has a devastating impact on future generations and may contribute to <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1375/pplt.2005.12.1.256">intergenerational offending</a> </p>
<p><a href="https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/family-relationships-quarterly-no-19/responding-children-women-prison-making-invisible">Most female prisoners are mothers</a> and many have young children in their care when they go to prison. Studies highlight the damaging psychological and health effects on children who experience parental imprisonment. These effects are potentially greater among those who <a href="http://www.aecf.org/m/resourcedoc/aecf-asharedsentence-2016.pdf">lose their mother to incarceration</a>.</p>
<p>We are aiming to address the program gap in Australian prisons through implementing and evaluating a violence prevention and intervention program. Called <a href="http://www.stephaniecovington.com/beyond-violence-a-prevention-program-for-criminal-justice-involved-women1.php">Beyond Violence</a>, the program could be effective for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women with histories of violent offending.</p>
<p>Beyond Violence was developed in the United States. It is specific for women and uses evidence-based therapeutic strategies to reduce re-offending and substance use, and improve mental health, among women who have committed violent crimes.</p>
<p>The program has <a href="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/689356">shown promise</a> in international studies; our intervention will be modified for female prisoners in an Australian context. This will include ensuring it is culturally appropriate for Aboriginal women.</p>
<p>We must do more to find alternatives to the increasing use of imprisonment to address health and social problems and improve the options for diversion away from prison – for both women and men. It is also critical there are well-resourced community-based services for women – as both victims and offenders of violence – that keep women and children safe and prevent their contact with the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>We recognise that women who commit serious violent offences should be accountable for their behaviour. However, we have a duty of care to meet the specific treatment and rehabilitation needs of these women while in prison to maximise their chances of release and of not returning to prison.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mandy Wilson receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the WA Health Promotion Foundation (Healthway). Both research projects referred to in this article are funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
The researchers publically acknowledge that material contained in this article cannot be considered as either endorsed by the Department of Corrective Services in Western Australia or an expression of the
policies or views of the Department of Corrective Services. Any errors of omission or commission are the responsibility of the researchers.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jocelyn Jones receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council..</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Simpson receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council.. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Butler receives funding from National Health and Medical Research Council </span></em></p>
The majority of women in prison have committed minor, non-violent crimes. But a large number have committed violent offences such as assault, homicide and robbery.
Mandy Wilson, Research Fellow in Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Research, Curtin University
Jocelyn Jones, Research Associate in Justice Health and Social Issues, Curtin University
Paul Simpson, Research Fellow, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney
Tony Butler, Professor and Program Head, Justice Health Research Program, UNSW Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/68543
2016-11-15T19:07:52Z
2016-11-15T19:07:52Z
Give prisoners internet access for a safer and more humane community
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145400/original/image-20161110-25093-q3pgfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Denying prisoners internet access seriously damages their prospects of rehabilitation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-237356278/stock-photo-technology-prison-and-internet-addiction-victim-concept-as-human-hands-holding-virtual-jail-bars-made-from-computer-laser-beams-with-digital-binary-code.html?src=PeX-QtZK2RhZangrU-I3Og-1-16">Lightspring from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The reflexive and illogical <a href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR928.html">ban on internet</a> use <a href="http://www.prisonpc.com/projects.html">by prisoners</a> makes society less safe, damages families and is another appalling example of the gratuitous suffering we inflict on prisoners. It also highlights the primitive manner in which we continue to sentence offenders, almost totally divorced from normative and empirical learning. Governments should immediately legislate to provide inmates with full and unfettered (albeit monitored) access to the internet. </p>
<p>Technological advances have resulted in momentous changes to nearly every area of human activity, including engineering, medicine, transport and communications. Standing stubbornly outside this near-universal trend is the way in which the community punishes criminals. The bedrock process for dealing with serious criminals now, as it has been for hundreds of years, is to segregate them from the rest of society by placing them behind high impenetrable walls. </p>
<p>The conditions in prison have remained remarkably stagnant for inmates during this time. They are kept in oppressive, often violent conditions and almost totally shut off from the outside word – apart from token visiting privileges and limited access to television and newspapers. </p>
<p>When prisoners are released it is not surprising that <a href="http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rprts05p0510.pdf">nearly half</a> of them <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/1351.0.55.031">reoffend within a few years</a>. </p>
<p>So much has changed in the world outside prisons over the past two few decades. The single biggest change is the impact of technology on our lives – the role of the internet in particular. </p>
<p>The internet is an integral and <a href="https://withoutmedia.wordpress.com/">irreplaceable tool for most people</a>. We use it in all aspects of our lives, especially our social, study, business and work activities. Surveys show that some people would <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/10/internet-more-important-than-heating_n_3050505.html">rather be without food and water</a> than the internet.</p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://theconversation.com/offline-inmates-denied-education-and-skills-that-reduce-re-offending-38709">internet access is totally denied</a> to one group in the community: prisoners. Paradoxically, the pain from this spills over into the community. </p>
<h2>A key tool for education and rehabilitation</h2>
<p>Educating and integrating offenders is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/by-freeing-prisoners-from-cycle-of-crime-education-cuts-re-offending-42610">key rehabilitative tool</a>. And the internet is the <a href="http://rightnow.org.au/opinion-3/can-prisoners-receive-quality-education-without-access-to-the-internet/">most effective means of providing education to prisoners</a>. </p>
<p>According to the RAND Corporation, inmates participating in correctional education programs have on average a <a href="http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR564.html">43% lower chance of reoffending</a>. Prisoners who participated in academic or vocational education programs in prison are also 13% more likely to obtain employment after their release. </p>
<p>The importance of access to the internet goes well beyond educational advantages. The internet is a key tool for easing inmates’ re-entry into the community. It is indispensable to any effort to apply for jobs and benefits, enrol in education and search for housing. </p>
<p>The US Department of Education <a href="https://www.edpubs.gov/document/ed005580p.pdf">observes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Most, if not all, of these pre-release activities require some form of computer or telecommunication device and internet access.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Lack of access punishes innocent relatives</h2>
<p>Denying prisoners internet access damages not only them, but also their relatives. This is especially true given that most prisons are located in remote regions and have very limited visiting rights. This damage should be minimised, especially from the perspective of the relatives. They are blameless. </p>
<p>Access to the internet would enable prisoners to have extensive real-time and meaningful contact with their relatives. Sustaining the continued development of these relationships enhances the relatives’ quality of life while reducing the extent to which their interests are collaterally damaged by the misdeeds of others.</p>
<p>Of course, providing internet access to prisoners poses potential problems. Most notable is the concern about providing prisoners with a medium through which they could commit more crime. This might include harassing and threatening victims and witnesses.</p>
<h2>Abuse of access can be controlled</h2>
<p>However, the security concerns are overrated. Modern technology provides effective solutions to possible internet abuse by prisoners. A prisoner’s every keystroke can be readily tracked. </p>
<p>Every single type of interaction that an inmate has via the internet can be monitored. This includes web accesses, analysis of sites visited, the nature of searches undertaken and full text recognition and analysis of all information sent and received. </p>
<p>Artificial intelligence techniques are now such that not only can literal matches be made with problematic language in emails or troubling terms used in search engines, but also semantic meaning can be extracted from the entire body of a document. Endpoint security can enable the targeted or random flagging of inmate’s internet activity, for a human guard to investigate if inappropriate activity is taking place. </p>
<p>Occasional use violation will occur, but the solution to this is obvious. The prisoner who committed the breach should have internet use suspended or cancelled. Depending on the nature of breach, they may also be charged with a criminal offence. It is a grossly disproportionate response to punish all prisoners for the possible or actual infractions of a few. </p>
<p>A large amount of pornography is available on the internet. It is likely that proposals for prisoner internet access will be met with objections to the possible downloading of pornography in prison. However, in principle and pragmatically, these objections can be surmounted.</p>
<p>Prisoners in some jurisdictions already have (limited) conjugal visits. Logically, and emotively, if prisoners can have sex, it is illogical to deny them the capacity to watch sex.</p>
<p>Internet access to prisoners would lessen the pain stemming from incarceration in a manner that does not undermine the principal objectives of imprisonment — community protection and the infliction of a hardship. At the same time it provides prisoners with the opportunity to develop skills, knowledge and relationships that will better equip them for a productive life once they are released. </p>
<p>Continued internet deprivation is nothing other than an inexcusable continuation of the wanton summary punishment we inflict on prisoners.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This piece is based on a forthcoming article in the Akron Law Review, “The hardship that is internet deprivation and what it means for sentencing”, co-authored with Dr Nick Fischer.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68543/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
If we are serious about rehabilitating prisoners and reducing reoffending, then education and integration back into the community are vital. Today, internet access is essential to achieve that.
Mirko Bagaric, Professor of Law, Swinburne University of Technology
Dan Hunter, Dean, Swinburne Law School, Swinburne University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/48920
2015-10-19T11:14:38Z
2015-10-19T11:14:38Z
Could MBAs for prisoners stop them re-offending?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98690/original/image-20151016-25112-1t9sdb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/10490113913/in/photolist-gYYzoZ-iUKE8K-8TaAdQ-gLRWAA-3KPTQU-qakxXS-8YW9eM-g9giVA-tgAxsz-a5idwo-nk9MR-yYUoAR-J2P9h-yYYM8S-7PBNhi-vQtJyp-4nYB3-aBgfi7-85HBZT-ugcJ6X-2wDtw2-5xtiGh-7yDG7a-ayMkd1-2bhTcs-5EQW8K-4v5WM-yJCqso-nSvDgi-enUH5Y-fi57cm-zsGSaf-fkQond-j5TxL9-5Us16p-9NcLeg-ajfM3h-rm34ZX-oq5qqD-8q8SoK-zAvhTD-5weRaZ-qGs9UM-8RVeSN-68sa5L-z3kbSx-aHnGhz-azpAb1-78mNyr-pzqeEB">Thomas Hawk</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Re-offending rates among prisoners in the UK are sky high. Around 90% of those sentenced in England and Wales have previous offences and the rates are, if anything, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18188610">getting worse</a>.</p>
<p>The direct link between employment and re-offending suggests that getting prisoners back into work once they have served their sentences plays an important role in tackling recidivism. The new justice secretary, Michael Gove, seems to have joined these dots. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/03/michael-gove-plans-to-give-prison-governors-more-powers-to-educate-and-reform">Outlining his strategy</a> to break the cycle of re-offending, he has called for more education and more business partnerships in prisons. The idea being that prisoners who start working for companies while on the inside will be properly groomed for the labour market on the outside. </p>
<p>But the reality of the job market for ex-prisoners is bleak. Regardless of their skills, they face legalised discrimination and struggle to find work. A radical solution is required if we want to reduce the rates of re-offending and evidence from the US suggests this could lie in training up prisoners as businessmen. </p>
<h2>Legalised discrimination</h2>
<p>Ex-offenders are hard placed to find employment when their sentences are over. Despite equality of opportunity in employment being the meritocratic mantra of the modern age, a key area not covered by the law is the discrimination faced by ex-offenders. A recent report by the employability service Working Links, <a href="http://www.workinglinks.co.uk/media_centre/latest_news/prejudged_tagged_for_life.aspx">Tagged for Life</a>, is clear on the matter: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Conviction history remains one of the few areas where employers can legally discriminate against applicants when recruiting new employees. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, there are particular convictions which would render a person unfit for certain types of work and would need to be made transparent in the application process. A child sex offender would, of course, not be fit to work alongside children. A person convicted of financial fraud would probably be unfit to run the accounts of a company.</p>
<p>But there are a growing number of people being <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/re-offending-rates-rise-as-the-prison-population-expands-872411.html">imprisoned for minor offences</a> such as petty theft, drug possession and even non payment of TV licenses. And the re-offending rates of prisoners released after short sentences of a year or less stands <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11139520/Could-Britains-prisons-soon-be-as-bad-as-Americas.html">at almost 60%</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98694/original/image-20151016-25149-1fgvyac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98694/original/image-20151016-25149-1fgvyac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98694/original/image-20151016-25149-1fgvyac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98694/original/image-20151016-25149-1fgvyac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98694/original/image-20151016-25149-1fgvyac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98694/original/image-20151016-25149-1fgvyac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/98694/original/image-20151016-25149-1fgvyac.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Time spent here is what awaits numerous ex-offenders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_employment_service#/media/File:Jobcentre-plus-.jpg">J J Ellison</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Without employment, the cycle of chronic re-offending in the UK continues. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment__data/file/272221/6717.pdf">Home Office figures</a> show that 75% of prisoners fail to secure employment on release from custody and 55% of offenders with community sentences are unemployed at the start of their orders. The modern, service-led, globally integrated British economy, it seems, has no need for ex-cons. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the evidence about the role of employment in discouraging re-offending is compelling. Public policy researcher Mark Lipsey’s <a href="https://www.nacro.org.uk/data/files/ex-offendersemployment-930.pdf">meta-analysis of 400 international research studies</a> on young offenders singled out employment as the single most important factor in reducing re-offending. A <a href="https://www.nacro.org.uk/data/files/ex-offendersemployment-930.pdf">UK government report</a> showed that employment reduced re-offending by between a third and a half. </p>
<p>But there is a catch 22. The employment opportunities available to prisoners on release are not only limited by discrimination from would-be employers. They are also limited by the disproportionately poor educational and skill levels of ex-offenders. And there is <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/poverty/downloads/keyofficialdocuments/Reducing%20Reoffending.pdf">further evidence</a> that any work and skills training within prison has proven largely ineffectual in preparing inmates for a life of reintegration into the mainstream labour market. Sorry Mr Gove.</p>
<h2>Breaking the cycle</h2>
<p>One way to break this cycle is to help prisoners hone the skills to start their own businesses. Key to this idea is that the authorities do not treat prisoners or ex-offenders as a pariah underclass, suffering multiple forms of deprivation – or a “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/09/precariat-charter-denizens-citizens-review">criminal precariat</a>”. Policies toward prisoners and ex-offenders should embrace the entrepreneurial talent that exists in prisons.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/prisoners-exploited-for-labour-but-they-think-its-a-fair-cop-guv-28538">Research</a> into work and training provision in prisons suggests that prisoners do not necessarily view themselves as part of a criminal underclass or precariat. Interviews with more than 40 prisoners, spanning long and medium sentences, revealed that most identified themselves somewhere between belonging to the working class and their links to an entrepreneurial criminal class. Ironically, this meant they identified more with entrepreneurial capitalists than the exploited precariat. </p>
<p>Maybe the way ahead, therefore, is to treat prisoners less as criminals that need to be reformed and more as entrepreneurs. It’s conceivable to think of many prisoners (those in prison for drug offences for example or those dealing in other illicit markets such as counterfeit goods) as business people who happen to be dealing in high risk markets. Their entrepreneurial skills, honed in subterranean markets, need to be developed rather than discouraged through an exposure to the quotidian routines of manual work. </p>
<h2>MBAs for prisoners</h2>
<p>This “talent scouting” approach of trusting and even investing in people who have committed crimes may seem counterintuitive but it was <a href="http://www.inc.com/magazine/201206/kris-frieswick/catherine-rohr-defy-ventures-story-of-redemption.html">tried out by Catherine Rohr</a>, a former Wall Street analyst. Rohr visited Texas prisons as part of a Christian outreach programme and realised that many prisoners possessed the same sort of qualities she looked for when looking to invest in start-up companies. </p>
<p>In 2004, she founded the Houston-based Prison Entrepreneur Program – part faith-based project to reach out to the marginalised, part business venture to scout raw capitalist talent. </p>
<p>This being Texas – where the Bible and business are pillars of civilisation – the prison service welcomed Rohr’s God-meets-Dragon’s-Den approach to rehabilitating criminals. It is now a full-time project, which gives prisoners MBA-style classes in prison, helping them develop their business ideas and giving them practical skills in accounting, taxes, managing their cash flow, balance sheets and how to act professionally. </p>
<p>Evidence suggested that the programme has a positive impact. During its first five years, 500 prisoner students had graduated from the programme and around 60 had their own companies on leaving prison. When measured against the key performance indicator – re-offending – the results were, for Rohr, miraculous. The rate for her graduates was around 10%, which was significantly lower than the US average of 40%. Both the then president, George W. Bush, and Texas Governor, Rick Perry, honoured PEP’s public service achievement. </p>
<p>Arguably, if this form of entrepreneurial-led rehabilitation can happen in Texas, it can happen anywhere. In order to do so, however, it will require prisoners being seen less as criminals and more as risk-taking business owners. It requires the criminal justice system working against the in-built prejudices and structural discrimination faced by prisoners. For the evidence of life as a prisoner in Britain seems to echo what F Scott Fitzgerald once wrote about America: “There are no second acts in American lives.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48920/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenna Pandeli receives funding from The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Marinetto does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
If we want to see re-offending rates go down, a radical solution could be to train prisoners in how to start their own businesses.
Mike Marinetto, Business Ethics Lecturer, Cardiff University
Jenna Pandeli, Human Resource Management PhD Researcher, University of the West of England
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/47751
2015-09-21T01:07:28Z
2015-09-21T01:07:28Z
Building prisons is not making us safe – what can government do?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95431/original/image-20150920-31741-2gojhg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The numbers of people in Victoria’s prisons are unsustainable and in part due to recent policy changes.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Paul Miller</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Victorian Ombudsman, Deborah Glass, last week released a <a href="https://www.ombudsman.vic.gov.au/getattachment/5188692a-35b6-411f-907e-3e7704f45e17">report</a> into the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners in the state. What can we take from its findings? </p>
<p>The report’s starting point is the reality of imprisonment: it is temporary. In more than 99% of cases, offenders will return to the community. The challenge is to consider both the conditions in prison and the post-release conditions and trajectory of offenders.</p>
<p>The report’s findings are stark. Victoria is failing in relation to rehabilitation and post-release support. The consequence is that more people are imprisoned, more often. As the report lays out, we must understand the numbers. From there, we can begin to identify solutions.</p>
<h2>The numbers</h2>
<p>There is currently a surge in the numbers of people imprisoned in Victoria. The system is over capacity and failing to cope. The system is breaking under pressure, leading to <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/prison-riots-lead-to-dangerous-maximum-security-prisoner-reshuffle-opposition-20150819-gj2tik.html">riots</a> and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-16/violence-and-escapes-in-victorian-prisons-linked-to-overcrowding/6322620">reports of</a> increased violence and escapes. </p>
<p>The Ombudsman acknowledges, as does Corrections Minister <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-13/number-of-people-victorian-prisons-reaches-unprecedented-levels/6543706">Wade Noonan</a>, that the numbers of people in Victoria’s prisons are unsustainable and in part due to policy changes that have reduced bail and parole options:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The evidence is plain that heightened pressure on the system has resulted in reduced access to programs and services – unsurprisingly, accompanied by a rise in re-offending.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The report also makes clear what has been published previously – that women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island prisoners are disproportionately impacted by the changing conditions and practices of imprisonment. Both groups, while <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4517.0%7E2014%7EMain%20Features%7ESex%7E10002">relatively small</a> as a proportion of the total population in Victorian prisons, have experienced <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-of-imprisonment-victoria-is-leading-the-nation-backwards-38905">exponential increases</a> in the rate of imprisonment in recent years.</p>
<h2>The solution(s)</h2>
<p>Victoria needs tailored solutions, delivered as a whole-of-government strategy. Rehabilitation and reintegration looks different for men, for women, for Indigenous men and women, for those who have a cognitive disability, for young people. </p>
<p>Victoria needs a comprehensive, co-ordinated service, one that includes appropriate and adaptable models of support and care for key populations and individuals. “Whole-of-government” needs to translate into co-ordinated service delivery and sharing of information, without sacrificing accountability for outcomes.</p>
<p>There is significant research that demonstrates that support and assistance within prison works; that transitional support works; that the provision of long-term secure housing <a href="http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/imprisonmentobservatory/files/2014/09/Cairnlea-Evaluation-Report_2010.pdf">can be transformative</a>; that case management that ensures consistency and continuity can work.</p>
<p>Researchers and policymakers can thus work together to recognise what isn’t working and build practice based on evidence, rather than assumption. This also means recreating the corrections culture to be accountable and transparent to enable what doesn’t work to be identified, and for success to be celebrated.</p>
<p>Investment is essential. While the system is costing A$1 billion, the funding for rehabilitation and post-release is less than one-third of this. Noonan recently <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-13/number-of-people-victorian-prisons-reaches-unprecedented-levels/6543706">said</a> that the Andrews government</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… had committed $300 million to manage the system better and to try reduce the rate of recidivism.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But as the Ombudsman’s report indicates, the current level of services and funding is inadequate. Victoria’s is not a situation unique in Australia. In South Australia, the investment in rehabilitation is <a href="https://theconversation.com/state-of-imprisonment-south-australias-prisoner-numbers-soar-with-just-10-of-budget-for-rehab-38906">reportedly</a> 10% of its corrections budget.</p>
<p>The programs in place that are producing positive results, such as the Drug and Koori Courts, the Neighbourhood Justice Centre and the Criminal Justice Diversion Program, are both underfunded and finitely funded. Neither enables the full potential of these programs to be realised.</p>
<p>Victoria once led the way in innovative <a href="https://theconversation.com/prevention-not-prison-justice-reinvestment-makes-dollars-and-sense-13878">justice investment</a>, but it now has a long way to go to reclaim this status. The Ombudsman’s report may cause despair. Yet it could also be seen as an opportunity for a new government setting out to implement a reform agenda that includes a reinvigoration of corrections-related policy. </p>
<p>The Ombudsman’s investigation and report is one step towards change. It has, to some extent, made Corrections Victoria accountable and challenged the <a href="http://theconversation.com/lifting-the-veil-on-the-crisis-in-victorias-prisons-25476">recent tendency</a> to suppress any and all information regarding the state of Victoria’s prison system. </p>
<p>What is not mentioned in this report – but which has proven critical over past decades – is the importance of public support. For too long, law-and-order politics has enabled a punitive response to criminal justice issues, including an assumption that supporting offenders within and beyond prison is tantamount to “going soft” on crime.</p>
<p>The Victorian people need to be on the side of reform. That begins with this report. It acknowledges that prison does not work, and that Victorians cannot afford the financial or social burden it places on the whole community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47751/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marie Segrave receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>
Victoria is failing in relation to rehabilitation of prisoners and post-release support. The consequence is that more people are imprisoned, more often.
Marie Segrave, Senior Lecturer, Criminology, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/41960
2015-06-15T20:19:36Z
2015-06-15T20:19:36Z
Crime and punishment and rehabilitation: a smarter approach
<p><em>This article is part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/beyond-prison">Beyond Prison</a> series, which examines better ways to reduce re-offending, following the recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-imprisonment">State of Imprisonment</a> series.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Although criminal justice agencies in Australia have, in recent years, adopted an increasingly <a href="https://theconversation.com/prisons-policy-is-turning-australia-into-the-second-nation-of-captives-38842">“get tough” approach</a>, responses to crime that rely on punishment alone have failed to make our communities <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-evidence-is-in-you-cant-link-imprisonment-to-crime-rates-40074">safer</a>. Instead, they have produced an <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-of-imprisonment-in-australia-its-time-to-take-stock-38902">expanding prison system</a>. This has the potential to <a href="http://www.smartjustice.org.au/cb_pages/files/SMART_MorePrisons%20Final%20Revised%202014.pdf">do more harm than good</a> and places considerable strain on government budgets.</p>
<p>Increasing prison sentences <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/publications/does-imprisonment-deter">does little to deter</a> criminal behaviour. Longer sentences are associated with higher rates of re-offending. When prisoners return to their communities, as the vast majority inevitably do, the problems multiply. </p>
<h2>Exposing the limitations of punishment</h2>
<p>In this context, it becomes important to think carefully about public policy responses that aim to punish and deter offenders. Psychologists have been <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25462507">studying punishment</a> under well-controlled laboratory conditions with both animals and humans for nearly 100 years. Its effectiveness in promoting short-term behavioural change, or even in suppressing negative behaviour, depends on rather specific conditions being in place.</p>
<p>For punishment to work it has to be predictable. Punishment also has to be applied at maximum intensity to work, or else tolerance and temporary effects result. Yet applying very intense levels of punishment for many offences goes against our sense of justice and fairness. </p>
<p>The threat of punishment, no matter how severe, will not deter anyone who believes they can get away with it. It will also not deter those who are too overcome by emotion or <a href="https://theconversation.com/good-mental-health-care-in-prisons-must-begin-and-end-in-the-community-40011">disordered thinking</a> to care about the consequences of their behaviour. </p>
<p>Punishment also has to be immediate. Delayed punishment provides opportunities for other behaviours to be reinforced. In reality, it often takes months – if not years – for someone to be apprehended, appear in court and be sentenced. </p>
<h2>Working towards more effective rehabilitation</h2>
<p>Many of the conditions required for punishment to be effective will not exist in any justice system. It follows that policies and programmes that focus on rehabilitating offenders will have a greater chance of success in preventing crime and improving community safety. </p>
<p>The origins of offender rehabilitation in Australia can be traced back to the early
penal colonies and, in particular, to <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=PTIKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA3&dq=convict&lr=&as_brr=1&ei=Clz7SqKcE5WelQTp47ncDg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">the work</a> of <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/maconochie-alexander-2417">Alexander Maconochie</a>, a prison governor on Norfolk Island in 1840. Maconochie introduced the idea of
indeterminate rather than fixed sentences, implemented a system of rehabilitation in which good behaviour counted towards prisoners’ early release, and advocated a system of aftercare and community resettlement. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83775/original/image-20150603-2328-du7abo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83775/original/image-20150603-2328-du7abo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83775/original/image-20150603-2328-du7abo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83775/original/image-20150603-2328-du7abo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83775/original/image-20150603-2328-du7abo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83775/original/image-20150603-2328-du7abo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83775/original/image-20150603-2328-du7abo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83775/original/image-20150603-2328-du7abo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Much more is known about punishment and rehabilitation than when John Howard first gave evidence to a House of Commons committee in 1774.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howard_(prison_reformer)#/media/File:John_Howard_by_Mather_Brown.jpg">Wikimedia Commons/John Howard by Mather Brown (1789)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Maconochie’s ideas built on those of the great social reformers of 18th-century Britain, notably Quakers such as <a href="http://www.howardleague.org/johnhoward/">John Howard</a> and <a href="http://www.howardleague.org/elizabethfry/">Elizabeth Fry</a>. They were among the first to try to change prisons from what they called “institutions of deep despair and cruel punishment” to places that were more humane and had the potential to reform prisoners’ lives. </p>
<p>These days, though, offender rehabilitation is often thought about in terms of psychological treatment. We can chart the rise of current programmes according to the broad traditions of <a href="http://psychcentral.com/lib/psychodynamic-therapy/">psychodynamic psychotherapy</a>, behaviour modification and <a href="http://psychcentral.com/lib/about-behavior-therapy/">behaviour therapy</a> and, more recently, the <a href="http://www.aacbt.org/viewStory/WHAT+IS+CBT%3F">cognitive-behavioural</a> and <a href="http://psychcentral.com/lib/about-cognitive-psychotherapy/">cognitive approaches</a> that characterise contemporary practice. </p>
<p>The earliest therapeutic work in the psychoanalytic tradition saw delinquent behaviour as the product of a failure in psychological development. It was thought this could be addressed through gaining insight into the causes of offending. A wide range of group and milieu therapies were developed for use with offenders, including <a href="http://psychcentral.com/lib/about-group-therapy/">group counselling</a> and psychodrama. </p>
<p>In the 1980s, more behavioural methods – such as <a href="http://www.minddisorders.com/Py-Z/Token-economy-system.html">token economies</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contingency_management">contingency management</a> programmes and “time out” – replaced psychotherapy.</p>
<p>There are good grounds to develop standardised incentive models in Australia’s prisons. Community-style therapeutic programmes for prisoners with substance use problems in Victoria, NSW and the ACT represent substantial advances in practice. </p>
<p>These programmes take advantage of the significant therapeutic opportunities that arise by looking closely at prisoners’ social functioning and day-to-day interactions. They actively encourage offenders to assume responsibility not only for their own behaviour, but for that of others. </p>
<p>However, rehabilitation today is almost always associated with cognitive-behavioural therapy. This targets a relatively narrow range of crime-producing (or “criminogenic”) needs, including pro-criminal attitudes – those thoughts, values and sentiments that support criminal conduct. Programmes also dedicate a lot of time to trying to change personality traits, such as low self-control, hostility, pleasure- or thrill-seeking and lack of empathy. </p>
<p>Not everyone can be successfully treated. Substantial evidence now exists, though, to suggest that this type of approach does produce socially significant reductions in re-offending. </p>
<h2>Essential steps in making corrections policy work</h2>
<p>The challenges lie in ensuring that the right programmes are delivered to the right people at the right time. </p>
<p>First, it is important that low-risk offenders have minimal contact with higher-risk offenders. Extended contact is only likely to increase their risk of recidivism. This has implications for prisoner case management, prison design and for the courts. </p>
<p>Courts have the power to divert low-risk offenders from prison and thus minimise contact with more entrenched offenders. Related to this is the need to develop effective systems of community-based rehabilitation, leaving prisons for the most dangerous and highest-risk offenders.</p>
<p>Second, concerted efforts are required to develop innovative programmes for those who identify with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander cultural backgrounds. They are <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-of-imprisonment-in-australia-its-time-to-take-stock-38902">grossly over-represented</a> across all levels of the criminal justice system.</p>
<p>Third, staff need to be properly selected, trained, supervised and resourced to deliver the highest-quality rehabilitation services to the most complex and challenging people. </p>
<p>Finally, it is important to demonstrate that programmes actually make offenders better, not worse. The types of evaluation that are needed to attribute positive change to programme completion are complex, require large numbers of participants and cross-jurisdictional collaboration. A national approach to programme evaluation is sorely needed. </p>
<p>This is not to suggest that criminal behaviour shouldn’t be punished – only that we should not rely on punishment by itself to change behaviour. We need to create a true system of rehabilitation that can enhance the corrective impact of
punishment-based approaches. </p>
<p>It also doesn’t mean that punishment never works. It may work reasonably well with some people – perhaps those who are future-oriented, have good self-monitoring and regulation skills, and who can make the connection between their behaviour and negative consequences months later. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, many people in prison simply aren’t like this. The challenge, then, is two-fold: to find ways to make punishment more effective and to tackle the causes of offending through high-quality rehabilitation.</p>
<p>Correctional services often get little credit for their efforts. They are widely criticised when things go wrong. However, their efforts to rehabilitate offenders are not only sensible, but also cost-efficient and practical.</p>
<p>We need to support efforts to create a true system of rehabilitation. Such a system will be comprehensive, coherent and internally consistent in applying evidence-based practice at all levels.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is based on the author’s keynote presentation to the <a href="https://groups.psychology.org.au/cfp/2015conference/">2015 APS College of Forensic Psychologists Conference</a> in Sydney.</em></p>
<p><em>You can read other articles in the Beyond Prison series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/beyond-prison">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Day does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Approaches to crime that rely on punitive methods have proved to be ineffective and counter-productive. Rehabilitation programmes not only prevent crime, but are cost-effective and practical.
Andrew Day, Professor of Psychology; Member of the Strategic Research Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development, Deakin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/39999
2015-04-26T19:30:50Z
2015-04-26T19:30:50Z
Our $3b-a-year system is flying blind in supporting ex-prisoners
<p><em>This article is one of several following up The Conversation’s series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-imprisonment">State of Imprisonment</a>, which provides snapshots of imprisonment trends in each state and territory.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Nobody knows how many people get out of prison in Australia each year. This fact is so striking that it bears repetition. Despite recurring investment of more than <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/recurring/report-on-government-services/2015/justice/corrective-services">$3 billion a year in our correctional systems</a>, we simply cannot determine how many people move through those systems each year.</p>
<p>It’s not that this information is difficult to find, or that it’s not publicly available. We simply don’t know.</p>
<h2>Understanding throughput is important</h2>
<p>For other large, state-based and publicly funded systems, such as hospitals and schools, information on throughput is readily available, and rightly so. These systems are funded by the taxpayer, for the taxpayer, and routine public reporting is critical to ensuring transparency and accountability. </p>
<p>Information on throughput is also critical to service planning: if we don’t know how many people use the service, or what these people look like, how can we possibly ensure that the service is appropriate in scale and character?</p>
<p>Yet we can only estimate how many people move through our prisons each year. We don’t have even a basic demographic description of these people. This information is important because almost everyone who goes to prison comes back out again, and effective support during the transition from prison to community is critical to preventing re-offending. </p>
<p>Effective transitional support can also reduce the risk of other poor outcomes that disproportionately affect ex-prisoners, such as preventable death, the spread of infectious disease and expensive, avoidable hospitalisation. </p>
<p>Effective support for people coming out of prison is therefore critical to public safety, public health and the public purse. But we don’t know how many people in Australia need this sort of transitional support.</p>
<h2>What <em>do</em> we know?</h2>
<p>It’s not that we don’t know anything about the people we incarcerate: for well over a decade the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has produced a <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4512.0">quarterly publication</a> that reports how many people were in prison on an average day, broken down by basic demographic characteristics. For example, we know that Indigenous Australians are over-represented in our prisons by an age-adjusted factor of 13. The ABS also produces an <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4517.0">annual publication</a> reporting on the number and characteristics of people in prison on June 30 of each year.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding the redundancy in these two publications, so far so good. The problem is, people being released from prison look different to those in prison, and there are a lot more of them. How can this be?</p>
<p>For the purposes of illustration, let’s consider our hospitals. According to the <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=60129546922">Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)</a>, in 2012-13 there were about 86,300 hospital beds in Australia and for the 42% of patients who stayed in hospital overnight, the average length of stay was just 5.6 days. Because of this staggering throughput, there were almost 9.4 million hospital separations – when someone is discharged from hospital – in the 2012-13 financial year. This is more than 100 times the number of hospital beds, which is a pretty good proxy for the number of people in hospital on the average day.</p>
<p>Now let’s consider our prisons. Across the country we have almost 34,000 people in prison on the average day and we’re spending billions building more prison beds, at a rate well in excess of population growth. Prisons are, by definition, a growth industry. </p>
<p>The average expected length of stay for sentenced prisoners is 1.8 years, but for those on remand – around one in four prisoners – the average length of stay is just three months. Almost two in five of those released from prison return within two years, most of them within the first year. Those with unresolved substance use and mental health problems are more likely to return to custody.</p>
<p>So how many “prison separations” do we have each year in Australia? How many people does this represent? We don’t know.</p>
<p>In 2012, the AIHW asked the states and territories to provide this information, for inclusion in a report on the <a href="http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=60129543948">health of Australia’s prisoners</a>. On June 30 of that year there were 29,236 prisoners in Australia. Based on the information it received, the AIHW estimated that 33,751 individuals – 15% greater than the average daily number in prison – were released during the 2011-12 financial year.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this estimate was hobbled by the fact that one jurisdiction was unable to provide a count of either receptions or releases, while another provided a count of separations rather than individuals.</p>
<h2>What did our research find?</h2>
<p>More recently, we attempted to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1753-6405.12346/abstract">estimate this figure</a> by extrapolating from detailed throughput data provided by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. After accounting for demographic differences between the jurisdictions, we estimated that the number of people released from prison each year in Australia is around 25% greater than the daily number in prison. Applied to the most recent ABS statistics, this equates to an estimated 42,239 persons released from prison in 2013-14 – 8,448 more than the “number of prisoners” reported by the ABS.</p>
<p>Perhaps more importantly, we found that the characteristics of people being released from prison differ meaningfully from those in prison. Those being released were disproportionately young, Indigenous and female. For every young Indigenous woman in prison on the average day, we estimated that about 3.7 young Indigenous women were being released from prison each year.</p>
<p>Is this dramatic over-representation of particularly vulnerable people taken into account in the planning and funding of transitional programs for prisoners in Australia? It seems unlikely.</p>
<h2>Fix the data to fix the system</h2>
<p>So what needs to be done? First, an appropriate national body, probably the ABS, needs to commit to annual reporting of prison throughput in Australia. This should include at least the basic demographic characteristics of those released. It’s not rocket science, and would for the first time provide a platform for considering whether transitional programs for prisoners are appropriate in scale and character. </p>
<p>Then comes the hard bit: bringing evidence-based transitional programs to scale and ensuring that they are appropriate to the target population. With a rapidly increasing incarceration rate, enormous capital and recurring expenditure on the prison system, and predictably poor health, economic and offending outcomes for those released from prison, it’s about time we stopped flying blind in service planning for ex-prisoners.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Alex Avery was a co-author of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1753-6405.12346/full">the research paper</a> published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, on which this article is based.</em> </p>
<hr>
<p><em>You can read the other articles in the State of Imprisonment series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-imprisonment">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39999/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Kinner is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow. He receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council, and co-convenes the Justice Health Special Interest Group in the Public Health Association of Australia.</span></em></p>
We simply don’t know how many prisoners are released each year, nor their demographic characteristics. As a result, we cannot tailor services that would reduce ex-prisoners’ risks of re-offending.
Stuart Kinner, Professor, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/40074
2015-04-22T19:45:53Z
2015-04-22T19:45:53Z
The evidence is in: you can’t link imprisonment to crime rates
<p><em>This article is one of several following up The Conversation’s series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-imprisonment">State of Imprisonment</a>, which provides snapshots of imprisonment trends in each state and territory. The intention is to provide a basis for informed public discussion of the costs and consequences of imprisonment and the alternatives.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Prison populations in Australia are increasing rapidly. This is usually said to be driven by increases in crime. Digging deeper though, in Australia and internationally, the link is far less clear. The extent of a country’s use of imprisonment seems in fact to be more a matter of policy choice than of necessity. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/state-of-imprisonment-victoria-is-leading-the-nation-backwards-38905">Victoria’s prison system</a> has experienced particularly striking overcrowding in the past two years. More people are being sentenced to prison. More people are being remanded in custody rather than being granted bail. At the same time more people are being refused parole and therefore serving their full sentence in prison.</p>
<p>Governments argue that crime rates are increasing, that communities are fearful and that more offenders must therefore be sent to prison. Some horrific high-profile crimes by people on parole have also led to the closing off of parole.</p>
<p>In fact, crime rates are not increasing in any uniform way. The <a href="http://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/home/media+centre/news/key+figures+year+to+31+december+2014">latest figures</a> for Victoria, where imprisonment rates have risen sharply, show increases in some offences (including some but not all violent offences) and decreases in some offences, while most remained stable. </p>
<p>The increased use of imprisonment was not simply a response to increased crime. And the time lag between offending and sentencing rules out the argument that recent increases in the prison population have – for example, by deterrence – led to any stabilisation of the crime rate.</p>
<p>So crime rates are not driving the increasing use of incarceration. This conclusion is borne out by looking outside Australia. </p>
<h2>The global picture of crime and imprisonment</h2>
<p>The use of <a href="http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison_population_rate?field_region_taxonomy_tid=All">imprisonment around the world</a> varies enormously. </p>
<p>For instance, the US famously imprisons more of its population than almost any other country (698 prisoners per 100,000 population). Scandinavian countries use prisons at about one-tenth of that rate (e.g. Denmark 67/100,000, Sweden 57/100,000), with the UK at 144/100,000. The <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4512.0Main%20Features1December%20Quarter%202014?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4512.0&issue=December%20Quarter%202014&num=&view=">latest ABS data</a> puts Australia’s imprisonment rate at 190/100,000 but rising fast.</p>
<p>At the same time we see that crime rates vary around the world – but not really in a way that correlates with imprisonment rates. For example, crime rates increased significantly throughout the developed world from about the 1970s to the 1990s. But, in that period, <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/C/bo5417922.html">Michael Tonry shows</a> imprisonment rates increased significantly in the USA and the Netherlands, remained stable in Canada and Norway, zigzagged in France and fell sharply in Finland and Japan.</p>
<p>In fact there is no obvious relationship between imprisonment rates and crime rates. Research by <a href="http://www.rsf.uni-greifswald.de/fileadmin/mediapool/lehrstuehle/duenkel/LappiSeppala_PenalSeverity.pdf">Tapio Lappi-Seppala shows</a>, for example, that for some countries’ imprisonment rates move in line with crime rates (such as the USA, Denmark, Germany and Japan), while in other countries they move in opposite directions (such as in the UK, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand).</p>
<p>Looking just at <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/09/why-scandinavian-prisons-are-superior/279949/">Scandinavian countries</a>, much can be learnt about the politics of imprisonment from <a href="http://euc.sagepub.com/content/9/2/206.refs">Finland’s experience</a>. In the 1960s the government decided to reduce the use of imprisonment to bring Finland more into line with the other <a href="http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:526664/FULLTEXT01.pdf">Scandinavian countries</a>.</p>
<p>Between 1960 and 1990 the Finnish imprisonment rate fell from 165/100,000 to 60/100,000. This <a href="http://euc.sagepub.com/content/9/2/206.full.pdf+html">was achieved by</a>, for instance, reducing the offences for which imprisonment was an available sentence, shortening sentences, increasing early release schemes, introducing community service sentences and severely restricting the availability of prison terms for young offenders.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.oijj.org/en/interviews/dr-tapio-lappi-seppala-director-general-of-the-national-research-institute-of-legal-polic">Finnish commentator</a> argues that this was possible because of the political will to change. This was itself made possible by a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/02/international/europe/02FINL.html">social and political consensus</a> in a political system not driven by short electoral cycles and in which governments look for and accept expert independent advice on alternative forms of punishments.</p>
<p>But it was also achievable because at that time Finland had no tabloid press; <a href="https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&doctype=cite&docid=37+Crime+%26+Just.+313&key=1bfbc1bd36f78ba4facd854ddb148ced">crime was not a “hot button” issue</a> used to sell newspapers.</p>
<p>While Finland was cutting its prison rates enormously compared to the rest of Scandinavia, the trends and rates of recorded crime were <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4-_FBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT17&dq=%22Resisting+punitiveness+in+Europe%22+Snacken+and+Dumortier+2012&ots=RjM1CjpHut&sig=Pb9SVKXMdtbekMb-LqONeR6y1-w#v=onepage&q=%22Resisting%20punitiveness%20in%20Europe%22%20Snacken%20and%20Dumortier%202012&f=false">similar across all these countries</a>. From 1950 to 2010 crime rates in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland rose uniformly and in parallel up to about 1990 and then levelled off or declined. Prison rates in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, however, were similar and stable, while the Finnish prison rates dropped dramatically. </p>
<h2>If crime rates don’t explain it, what is happening?</h2>
<p><a href="http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Penal_Systems.html?id=dXA7oj1L9BkC&redir_esc=y">Analyses</a> by many <a href="http://www.sagepub.com/banks/articles/01/Nelken_CH01.pdf">commentators</a> link the differential use of imprisonment to broader political frameworks and levels of social inequality. They point out that neoliberal countries – such as the USA and Australia – tend to have higher imprisonment rates, while social democracies such as Scandinavian countries have low imprisonment rates.</p>
<p>Related explanations focus on whether a country has inclusionary or exclusionary politics. <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ahlaaziwIeEC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=%22exclusionary+cultural+attitudes%22&source=bl&ots=8Pfj3mJTOH&sig=L5Aqj3oNDrzmmWakhtaKXcexhpI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=reQ2VYv8CIL3mQXXjICoDg&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22exclusionary%20cultural%20attitudes%22&f=false">It is argued</a> that neoliberal societies have the highest prison rates because they have social and economic policies that lead to “exclusionary cultural attitudes” towards deviant fellow citizens. By contrast, European corporatist societies (“coordinated market economies”) and Scandinavian social democratic societies <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ahlaaziwIeEC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=%22see+offenders+as+needing+resocialisation,+which+is+the+responsibility+of+the+community+as+a+whole%22&source=bl&ots=8Pfj3mJUQI&sig=iN_yBnjWuQ1O58ljB5Ury2CYoJo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JuU2VeOUA-HPmwWuh4DQDg&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22see%20offenders%20as%20needing%20resocialisation%2C%20which%20is%20the%20responsibility%20of%20the%20community%20as%20a%20whole%22&f=false">are said to</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>see offenders as needing resocialisation, which is the responsibility of the community as a whole.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1086/660822?uid=3737536&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21106541823843">Links can also be made</a> between a country’s welfare system and rates of imprisonment: reduced welfare correlates with increased imprisonment. The association between increasingly punitive policies and the winding back of the welfare state in the USA and the UK is often noted. The USA has the highest <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/12/19/global-inequality-how-the-u-s-compares/">levels of income inequality</a> of Western countries, the Scandinavian countries the lowest. Scandinavia also ranks <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/C/bo12521631.html">highest on social expenditure</a> within Europe.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/78874/original/image-20150422-23630-lnd7rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/78874/original/image-20150422-23630-lnd7rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/78874/original/image-20150422-23630-lnd7rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/78874/original/image-20150422-23630-lnd7rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/78874/original/image-20150422-23630-lnd7rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/78874/original/image-20150422-23630-lnd7rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/78874/original/image-20150422-23630-lnd7rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/78874/original/image-20150422-23630-lnd7rm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Halden Prison is a maximum-security prison in Norway with a focus on rehabilitation that is reflected in its design.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halden_Prison#/media/File:Interior_in_Halden_prison.jpg">Wikimedia Commons/Norway Ministry of Justice</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Imprisonment is a political choice</h2>
<p>The form of democracy may also be important to political and community attitudes to punishment. Some commentators (see <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Penal_Systems.html?id=dXA7oj1L9BkC&redir_esc=y">here</a>, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ahlaaziwIeEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Comparative+Criminal+Justice+and+Globalization%22+Nelken&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uuY2VaGPPKOnmAWQ5IDYCQ&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Comparative%20Criminal%20Justice%20and%20Globalization%22%20Nelken&f=false">here</a>, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=yJ2VQgAACAAJ&dq=%22CRIME,+PUNISHMENT,+AND+POLITICS+IN+A+COMPARATIVE+PERSPECTIVE%22+Tonry&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B-c2VZj8B6S6mAWCyIDABQ&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA">here</a> and <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/au/academic/subjects/law/criminal-law/prisoners-dilemma-political-economy-and-punishment-contemporary-democracies">here</a>) make the comparison of confrontational two-party democracies, such as the USA and Australia, with more consensus-driven democracies such as Scandinavian countries. </p>
<p>Majoritarian two-party systems, it is argued, tend to give rise to adversarial and punitive law-and-order politics. By contrast, consensus-based models of decision making are said to prioritise compromise, making oppositional correctional politics unlikely.</p>
<p>Clearly, the extent of the use of imprisonment is a policy choice by governments. Looking around the world it is now widely recognised that there is no direct relationship between crime rates and imprisonment rates. There is a clearer connection between rates of imprisonment and levels of social inequality.</p>
<p>If crime rates don’t demand increased use of imprisonment, we must immediately reconsider our headlong rush to hyper-incarceration. If we were to learn from the international comparison, we would be investing much more in schools, families and communities, and much less in prisons.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>You can read the other articles in the State of Imprisonment series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/state-of-imprisonment">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40074/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Naylor has received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>
Some claim rising crime rates justify jailing more people, others that such policies cut crime. Evidence from around the world shows those claims are wrong and that we should be looking at inequality.
Bronwyn Naylor, Associate professor, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.