The U.S. gives out relatively strong sentences compared to other western democracies.
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The US is unique in its criminal punishment policies – as the recent sentencing of neo-Nazi James Fields Jr. demonstrates.
Vulnerable children caught up in the criminal justice system can suffer long-lasting consequences, even from a short period behind bars.
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Children are still being held in police cells and juvenile detention for low-range offences, under alarming conditions. Here’s how their mental health and future prospects suffer.
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Covering subjects from black holes to sleep science, a geophysicist explains his new course.
We don’t have much information on how spending time in an adult prison affects a child’s later development.
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In several Australian prisons, babies and toddlers live with their mothers who are serving time. Keeping young children with their mums is a good thing, but they need to be better supported.
The UK imprisons more people than any other country in Western Europe per head of population.
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Evidence from Scotland reveals the presumption against shorter sentences has shown little reduction in prison numbers.
Younger prisoners were found to commit minor offences more often than older prisoners.
Human Rights Watch
Some prisoners love and care for each other, but others physically, verbally and emotionally abuse each other. These offences can threaten safety and the good order of the prison.
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Vulnerable young people have been failed by austerity policies that have decimated the services meant to protect them.
CT scan of a patient with traumatic brain injury.
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Women in prison with brain injury are at increased risk of substance abuse, poor mental health and suicide. Yet support for these women is scant.
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Asylums were once designed to aid mental recovery – perhaps modern prisons should take note.
Short-term sentences come with higher reoffending rates.
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The British justice secretary’s proposal to make short prison sentences a last resort is the right idea at the worst possible time.
Prisoners picking oakum at Coldbath Fields Prison in London (circa 1864)
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Most Victorian convicts left prison weighing the same as when they arrived. Some even gained weight.
Halden Prison, Norway.
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Introducing colour and light to a traditionally dark place.
An image from the International Space Station captures plumes of smoke from California wildfires on August 4, 2018.
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From the curious to the serious – a bird’s eye view of the unique ways in which The Conversation covers the world.
It is a national shame that Indigenous people make up 2% of the general population, but 28% of the prison population.
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Indigenous Australians are vastly over-represented in the prison population, but the success of a new program is offering hope that it can be turned around.
Terri-Lynne McClintic, convicted in the death of an eight-year-old girl, is escorted into court in Kitchener, Ont., in September 2012. News that McClintic was transferred to an Indigenous ‘healing lodge’ has stoked outrage.
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The politically and emotionally charged court of public opinion is not the place to make policy changes in areas as complex as corrections.
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Open gates, good food and communal living make for a very different approach to incarceration.
Private companies can provide services - like catering - for inmates.
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Turning prisons into a market opportunity could open them up to corruption.
Los Angeles County women’s jail in Lynwood, California.
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A new public opinion survey reveals Americans largely agree on sentencing reform, and how money spent on prisons could be reinvested in communities.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was recently the subject of a racist video rant.
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Calls to impose harsh prison sentences for verbal crimen injuria are often premised on the need to deter such behaviour.
Even the most humanely designed prisons have negative effects on the people living and working inside.
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A wealth of research suggests prisons have serious detrimental effects on prisoners and prison workers.