tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/prison-population-32071/articlesPrison population – The Conversation2023-03-02T13:23:59Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2000412023-03-02T13:23:59Z2023-03-02T13:23:59ZUnderstanding mass incarceration in the US is the first step to reducing a swollen prison population<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513014/original/file-20230301-30-1c9olo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=238%2C157%2C2573%2C1823&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People incarcerated at a county jail in North Dakota gather together. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/174524045/photo/oil-boom-shifts-the-landscape-of-rural-north-dakota.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=FaIkb2CLNjUOxOoWX521IPpa5BfsgYTnAMVCQrDFXnI=">Andrew Burton/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/08/16/americas-incarceration-rate-lowest-since-1995/">The incarceration rate</a> in the United States fell in 2021 to its lowest levels since 1995 – but the U.S. continues to imprison a higher percentage of its population than almost every <a href="https://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison-population-total?field_region_taxonomy_tid=All">other country</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/correctional-populations-united-states-2021-statistical-tables">The U.S. incarcerates</a> 530 people for every 100,000 in its population, making it one of the world’s biggest jailers – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-begins-transfers-mega-prison-amid-gang-crackdown-2023-02-24/">just below El Salvador</a>, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/262962/countries-with-the-most-prisoners-per-100-000-inhabitants/">Rwanda and Turkmenistan.</a> </p>
<p>The U.S. actually had the greatest percentage of its population imprisoned until 2019. This followed steady growth in prison and jail populations in the 1970s, after a wave of <a href="https://www.owu.edu/news-media/from-our-perspective/tough-questions-for-tough-on-crime-policies/">“tough on crime” laws</a> and policies swept the nation. </p>
<p>While there has been a <a href="https://newjimcrow.com/,">growing recognition</a> of the need to reduce <a href="https://joebiden.com/justice/#,%20https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/07/15/president-obama-our-criminal-justice-system-isnt-smart-it-should-be">mass incarceration</a>, experts <a href="https://newjimcrow.com/">do not</a> agree on <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/rafael-mangual-discusses-new-book-criminal-in-justice">what caused the ballooning prison population</a> or the best path to reducing it.</p>
<p>As a former prosecutor and a researcher who studies the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VxvW--wAAAAJ&hl=en">criminal justice system</a>, I have found that understanding how the U.S. incarceration rate grew over the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mass-Incarceration-Nation-Jeffrey-Bellin/dp/1009267558/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0">last few decades</a> is the key to understanding its root causes – and what it will take to return to lower rates. </p>
<p>As I <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/law/criminal-law/mass-incarceration-nation-how-united-states-became-addicted-prisons-and-jails-and-how-it-can-recover?format=PB&isbn=9781009267557">show in my new book</a>, “Mass Incarceration Nation, How the United States Became Addicted to Prisons and Jails and How It Can Recover,” people tend to talk past one another when they discuss crime and punishment in the U.S. I think the public debate can improve if people develop a better understanding of how mass incarceration arose – and its tenuous connection to crime. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person wearing a bright orange outfit is seen walking into gates towards a beige building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513012/original/file-20230301-2409-xqwaw8.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"></a>
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<span class="caption">While the U.S. prison population has dipped recently, the rate remains higher than those of most countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/539898510/photo/usa-crime-overcrowding-of-california-prison-system.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=iXtRdZscYW5liMp5Li6ez7mWwHU94JASFEYl2rO7Lus=">Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>A growing prison population</h2>
<p>The growth in mass incarceration began with a crime spike. Homicides, which averaged around <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_20/sr20_006acc.pdf">5,000 per year in the 1960s</a>, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/187592/death-rate-from-homicide-in-the-us-since-1950/">shot up in the 1970s,</a> reaching over 24,000 in 1991. </p>
<p>The crime spike sparked a bipartisan wave of punitive laws, the hiring of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/03/nyregion/dinkins-on-crime-dinkins-proposes-record-expansion-of-police-forces.html">thousands of police officers</a> and a <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/rethinking-prison-as-a-deterrent-to-future-crime/">“tough on crime” mindset</a> that permeated every aspect of American criminal law. The system became more punitive, generating longer sentences, especially for repeat and violent offenses, as I show in my book. </p>
<p>Over time, this led to today’s <a href="https://nicic.gov/projects/aging-prison">aging prison population</a> and many people being held long past the time they would have been released in other countries and at other times <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2018/02/20/aging-prison-populations-drive-up-costs">in this country’s history</a>. </p>
<p>The number of people 55 or older in state and federal prisons increased 280% from 1999 to 2016, <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2018/02/20/aging-prison-populations-drive-up-costs">according to Pew research.</a> </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512999/original/file-20230301-1944-k5hl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Men in bright orange outfits and face masks sit in what looks like an empty classroom with white bars on the windows." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512999/original/file-20230301-1944-k5hl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512999/original/file-20230301-1944-k5hl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512999/original/file-20230301-1944-k5hl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512999/original/file-20230301-1944-k5hl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512999/original/file-20230301-1944-k5hl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512999/original/file-20230301-1944-k5hl1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512999/original/file-20230301-1944-k5hl1c.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"></a>
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<span class="caption">Men incarcerated in Washington, D.C., participate in a computer science program in September 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1243186427/photo/students-from-the-brave-behind-bars-program-an-introductory-computer-science-program-for.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=lVKEnRJ9FBQ5GZSwwxMcHCV3HaKvXpvDudkR9vMMDWw=">Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Different kinds of crime</h2>
<p>But longer sentences are only one factor in America’s supersized incarceration rates. </p>
<p>There has also been a <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2022/02/drug-arrests-stayed-high-even-as-imprisonment-fell-from-2009-to-2019">dramatic expansion of the kinds of crimes</a> for which U.S. courts imprison people. </p>
<p>After the 1970s, more and more people went to prison for drug crimes and other offenses that rarely used to lead to prison time. </p>
<p>Serious violent crime, meanwhile, went <a href="https://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/LevittUnderstandingWhyCrime2004.pdf">back down in the 1990s</a>. The crimes – like armed robbery and murder – that had sparked the march toward mass incarceration plummeted. </p>
<p>But prison populations didn’t drop. </p>
<p>As a prosecutor in Washington, D.C. in the early 2000s, I saw this change firsthand. Our caseloads were increasingly dominated by drug sales, drug possession and gun possession cases – cases which, not coincidentally, are typically the easiest to detect and prove. These changes were happening on a national level.</p>
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<p>The number of people incarcerated in state prisons for homicide increased by over 300% between 1980 and 2010, reflecting the temporary spike in homicides and longer sentences for those convicted of that offense. </p>
<p>But the scale of the increases for other offenses, like drug crimes, is even larger – rising 1,147% over this time frame.</p>
<h2>Speaking the same language</h2>
<p>While prison populations are finally starting to go down, progress is slow. At the current rate, it will take decades to reach the low incarceration rates the U.S. had for most of its history. </p>
<p>This dip is partially <a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/impact-covid-19-state-and-federal-prisons-march-2020-february-2021">because of the COVID-19 pandemic</a>, which prompted some states to release prisoners to avoid overcrowding and health risks. It is not clear that these recent reductions in the incarcerated population will continue. </p>
<p>I think that substantially reducing prison and jail populations will require better understanding of the link between incarceration and crime. It is not simply the case that incarceration goes up because people commit crime; instead, the story is much more complicated. That is because we use incarceration for two purposes: to obtain justice on behalf of victims and to try to change people’s behavior. </p>
<p>This distinction results in two kinds of cases flowing into this nation’s criminal courts.</p>
<p>First, there are cases that involve the most serious harm to individuals, like crimes of sexual violence and murder. Second, there are cases like drug offenses and weapons possession, which are not typically about obtaining justice for victims but are supposed to further policy goals like preventing drug use.</p>
<p>Changes in how we treat both kinds of cases contributed to the nation’s sky-high incarceration rate. American mass incarceration is a result of <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/12/06/u-s-public-divided-over-whether-people-convicted-of-crimes-spend-too-much-or-too-little-time-in-prison/">increasing sentence lengths</a> for people who commit serious violent crimes. But it is also a product of a stunning expansion of the system’s reach in the form of more and more crimes leading to prison and jail. </p>
<p>Substantial progress at reducing the incarcerated population will require reversing both trends. First, returning sentence lengths for all offenses, including serious violent crime, to their historical norms. And second, resisting this country’s growing habit of relying on incarceration as a tool for achieving policy goals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200041/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Bellin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Experts still disagree about why the US prison population has grown so much over the last few decades. But crime is only one part of the problem.Jeffrey Bellin, Mills E. Godwin, Jr., Professor of Law, William & Mary Law SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/761422017-04-18T19:48:32Z2017-04-18T19:48:32ZMandatory minimum sentences and populist criminal justice policy do not work – here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165524/original/image-20170418-32703-17iylfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Successive reviews and inquiries have revealed that mandatory sentences fail to achieve their stated aims.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Victorian Liberal Party <a href="http://matthewguy.com.au/media-release/guy-taking-back-our-state-the-liberal-nationals-plan-to-tackle-violent-re-offending/">recently announced</a> that, if elected in November 2018, it would introduce mandatory minimum sentences for repeat violent offenders as part of its crackdown on crime.</p>
<p>Heralded as a <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victorian-liberals-push-for-mandatory-sentences-for-repeat-violent-offenders-20170410-gvi75e.html">“two-strike” approach</a>, the proposal applies specifically to repeat offenders and 11 violent crimes, including murder, rape and armed robbery. Shadow Attorney-General John Pesutto claimed the proposed new sentencing laws were “unprecedented” in Victoria and “will be certainly among the toughest measures that anyone has sought to introduce in our criminal justice system”.</p>
<p>Although obviously intended to improve community safety, mandatory minimum sentencing policies run counter to the significant <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/Mandatory%20Sentencing%20Sentencing%20Matters%20Research%20Paper.pdf">body of evidence</a> indicating that this approach to sentencing is costly, unlikely to improve public safety nor effective in deterring future offending.</p>
<p>Despite this, such political promises are neither new nor unique to Victoria.</p>
<h2>Mandatory minimum sentencing across Australia</h2>
<p>Mandatory maximum and minimum sentencing policies have been introduced to varying degrees across other Australian states and territories. Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria have each introduced minimum terms of imprisonment for a variety of different offences.</p>
<p>At the Commonwealth level, the <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/">Migration Act</a> imposes mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment for aggravated people-smuggling offences.</p>
<p>The widespread uptake of such policies should not, however, be considered an indicator of their success in practice. Successive <a href="https://www.liv.asn.au/getattachment/22c3c2c9-45a5-45c4-96e6-f0affdfe2ff8/mandatory-minimum-sentencing.aspx">reviews and inquiries</a> have revealed that mandatory sentences fail to achieve their stated aims and have unintended consequences in practice, particularly for marginalised and diverse communities.</p>
<h2>Failure to enhance public safety</h2>
<p>The limits and dangers of mandatory sentencing schemes are well-established in Australian and international research.</p>
<p>Importantly, <a href="https://www.sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/publications/does-imprisonment-deter">we know</a> the threat of a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment does little to deter future offending. Therefore, the approach fails to achieve its aim of reducing offending and increasing public safety.</p>
<p>While policies that promise definite and lengthy terms of imprisonment for repeat violent offences may appear attractive within populist politics, they undermine long-established principles of proportionality and individualised justice. </p>
<p>In sentencing offenders for serious violent crime, senior members of the judiciary are in an expert position to determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed. Politicians lack the qualifications and experience to determine sentences, though they can pass legislation that reflects public concern and gives the judiciary the power to determine sentences for punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation.</p>
<p>By weighing up the individual facts of a case, a person’s offending and their individual circumstances, a judge works to apply a just sentence. Such a complex act of sentencing should not be used by politicians as a response to populist concerns.</p>
<h2>The cost of mandatory sentencing</h2>
<p>The failure of mandatory sentencing to achieve its stated aims also comes at a significant cost to public money. By their very nature, such policies divert more people into the prison system and for lengthier periods of time. The result is greater cost.</p>
<p>Take the recent Victorian policy announcement for example. In 2015, <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2015">the Productivity Commission found</a> that it cost A$103,000 annually to imprison one person in a secure Victorian prison facility. Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy estimated the proposed sentencing laws would impact 3-4,000 people “<a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/vic/a/34997592/do-mandatory-minimum-sentences-work/#page1">over a period of time</a>”. </p>
<p>On this basis, over the government’s four-year term, if 3,000 additional people were imprisoned for one year, the opposition’s proposed policy would cost – at minimum – an estimated $309 million. If this cost were repeated each year for the four-year term of government, the cost of the policy would be a minimum of $1.236 billion. </p>
<p>From a purely economic perspective, the cost of this approach is staggering. That $309 million will not be spent on tackling the underlying causes of crime or implementing evidence-based criminal justice policies.</p>
<p>And, at a time when Victoria – and many Australian jurisdictions – is imprisoning more people than ever, any policies that increase prisoner numbers must be seriously reconsidered.</p>
<h2>‘Political’ responses to crime</h2>
<p>Policies such as that announced by the Victorian Liberals are commonplace in the lead-up to state elections, when parties often mount “law and order” campaigns. </p>
<p>Politicians will often promise tougher criminal justice policies, usually in the form of longer terms of imprisonment, or <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/conferences/outlook99/dixon.pdf">zero-tolerance policing</a>. This is all sold as taking action to “keep the community safe”.</p>
<p>The political nature of such reforms was evident in 2014. Following a series of high-profile “one-punch” homicide deaths, NSW <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/barry-ofarrell-announces-tough-laws-to-combat-alcoholfuelled-violence-20140121-315wg.html">introduced</a> a minimum term of eight years’ imprisonment for offenders who were intoxicated while committing such a crime. Championed by then-premier Barry O’Farrell and later introduced by Mike Baird, the harsh approach to sentencing was touted as a response to public outrage over increasing levels of alcohol-fuelled violence.</p>
<p>Over two years on, the Law Council of Australia <a href="https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/lawcouncil/images/LCA-PDF/discussion%20papers/MS_Discussion_Paper_Final_web.pdf">has appealed</a> for the abolition of the law, noting that mandatory minimums “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/ineffective-onepunch-mandatory-sentences-should-be-scrapped-says-law-council-20160414-go6ib4.html">create greater law and order problems</a>” than they solve.</p>
<h2>Why we must learn from our mistakes</h2>
<p>Since the Victorian Liberals’ announcement, the proposal for mandatory minimum sentencing has been met with <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/victorian-liberals-push-for-mandatory-sentences-for-repeat-violent-offenders-20170410-gvi75e.html">significant criticism</a> from the legal and academic community. Their concerns are well founded. </p>
<p>Australian states and territories must move away from populist, ineffective “law and order” policies in favour of evidence-based and individualised responses to serious criminal justice concerns.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76142/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Fitz-Gibbon is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Monash University and a Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Law and Social Justice at University of Liverpool. She is a member of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Research Focus Program (<a href="http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/gender-and-family-violence/">http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/gender-and-family-violence/</a>). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Roffee 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>At a time when many Australian jurisdictions are imprisoning more people than ever, any policies that increase prisoner numbers must be seriously reconsidered.Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Monash UniversityJames Roffee, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/731622017-02-23T14:33:42Z2017-02-23T14:33:42ZWhy we must reduce the prison population rather than build new prisons<p>The justice secretary Liz Truss has published <a href="https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2016-2017/0145/cbill_2016-20170145_en_1.htm">a new bill</a> to reform the prison and court system in England and Wales. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prisons-and-courts-bill-what-it-means-for-you">The Prisons and Courts Bill</a> proposes new laws emphasising audits and league tables of prisons and a legal responsibility for both prison staff and the secretary of state for justice to ensure that prisons reform offenders. </p>
<p>The bill has been published following a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-safety-and-reform">white paper</a> on prison reform, and the announcement in November 2016 of the government’s £1.3 billion prison building revolution, which will increase capacity of the prison estate by <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prison-reform-justice-secretary-speech">10,000 places</a>. Yet the <a href="https://figshare.com/articles/Penology/1367559">historical and contemporary evidence</a> overwhelmingly shows that we cannot build our way out of the humanitarian disaster unfolding in our prisons. Prisons create crime; they do not reduce it. Paradoxically, if we want to reduce crime we must first reduce prison populations – but the new bill does not recognise this.</p>
<p>Prisoner reform and rehabilitation has been the goal of penal administrators since the 1800s. But the golden fleece has never been found. The commitment to reform, more foolhardy than brave and perhaps focused more on placing greater responsibility on prison staff than ministers, will inevitably turn into a poisoned chalice.</p>
<h2>The problem of rehabilitation</h2>
<p>The reformed prisons of the 1800s, with their new emphasis on rehabilitation, were invented to destroy the criminal personality and bring to life a new law-abiding identity. Predicated upon violence, prisons have proved spectacularly successful at <a href="https://www.academia.edu/22212913/Speaking_the_language_of_State_Violence_An_Abolitionist_Perspective">creating suffering and death</a>, but have failed miserably in their attempts to create new life. </p>
<p>A new responsibility to reform offenders through increased emphasis on how prisons are managed will not address the underlying problems of prisons: we cannot effectively care for people in institutions of violence. Transformations must be voluntary rather than coerced. Prisons break rather than facilitate family ties and it is impossible to teach people how to live in freedom while in captivity.</p>
<p>Prisons are antiquated institutions, ill-suited to deal with people with complex social needs. The new bill, which had its <a href="http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2016-17/prisonsandcourts.html">first reading</a> in the House of Commons on February 23, acknowledges that prisons are a revolving door where prisoners repeatedly return to prison, but doesn’t mention that many violent offenders are first incarcerated for non-violent property or drugs offences.</p>
<p>Nearly half of all adult prisoners <a href="http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Bromley%20Briefings/Autumn%202016%20Factfile.pdf">are reconvicted within one year of release</a>. There were <a href="http://inquest.org.uk/statistics/deaths-in-prison">record numbers of self-inflicted deaths in 2016</a>, and there has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/dec/17/birmingham-prison-riot-240-inmates-to-be-moved-out-of-jail">been a spate of highly visible prison disturbances</a> across the country in recent months. Prisons are undoubtedly failing. </p>
<h2>Prison populations have been reduced before</h2>
<p>The average daily prison (ADP) estimate on February 17, 2017 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/prison-population-figures-2017">stood at</a> 85,528 people. This is double what it was in 1992. It is also an <a href="https://figshare.com/articles/Penology/1367559">incredible eight times higher than in the late 1930s</a>.</p>
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<p>In 1908, more than 200,000 people were sent to prison, largely for short sentences. The ADP that year was 22,029, yet by 1918 it had halved to 9,196. By the late 1930s, there were 11,000 in prison, and fewer than 40,000 people were sentenced to prison each year.</p>
<p>The prison population in England and Wales was cut by promoting alternatives in place of prison sentences, abolishing imprisonment for debt and allowing time for fines to be paid. The main reason for the collapse in prison numbers, however, was because politicians and the judiciary recognised that <a href="https://figshare.com/articles/Penology/1367559">prisons were brutal institutions that did not work</a>.</p>
<p>In the early 20th century, suffragettes, prisoners of war, conscientious objectors to World War I, political prisoners and those criminalised for their homosexuality all directly experienced prisons. Prisoners, like <a href="https://figshare.com/articles/Constance_Lytton_Living_for_a_Cause/1368647">Lady Constance Lytton</a>, who was sister-in-law to a Liberal prime minster, talked openly about the pain and unnecessary suffering of prison. A bad conscience was created among the political elite about the use of imprisonment. </p>
<p>We need politicians today to once again recognise that the only rational way forward is to radically reduce prison populations.</p>
<h2>More prisons won’t help</h2>
<p>There should be an immediate moratorium on building more prisons. A clear message should be sent to the judiciary that for relatively harmless offences, or where an offender is considered vulnerable, a prison sentence should, if at all possible, be avoided.</p>
<p>There are some ideas <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/a-speech-on-criminal-justice-reform-by-the-secretary-of-state-for-justice">proposed by the government</a> regarding children, mental health, drug-taking and the release of prisoners being kept <a href="http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06086">indeterminately</a> for “public protection” that could be progressive, but only if interventions operate outside from the criminal law.</p>
<p>The age of criminal responsibility should be raised as soon as possible from ten to 16 years and diversion schemes introduced which keep young people out of the criminal process. Petty but persistent property offenders should be dealt with in their own community through schemes that help build a collective sense of safety and redress for the harm done, as well as fostering notions of respect and responsibility for all.</p>
<p>The call by Truss for quicker and more certain access to mental health treatment for offenders and their subsequent diversion from the criminal process should be top priority for new funding. It is a similar story for drug takers. Data <a href="http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Bromley%20Briefings/summer%202016%20briefing.pdf">from 2016</a> indicates that 64% of prisoners have taken drugs in the four weeks prior to custody. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/282/234">my research</a> has shown, residential therapeutic communities work in addressing substance misuse and one of the key goals should be promoting such treatment. In addition, the vast majority of <a href="https://figshare.com/articles/Playing_the_get_out_of_jail_for_free_card/1367482">women prisoners</a> have been sentenced for petty and non-violent offences and could be released through probation, home monitoring or amnesties. Judges could also pilot the introduction of prison waiting lists for women offenders.</p>
<p>Society needs to once again recognise that prisons are places of intense harm and suffering. Rather than increasing the size of the penal estate, we should instead profoundly regret the existence of prisons at all and do all we can to reduce the number of people incarcerated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Scott 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>A new reform bill will not fix the prison problem: too many people are being incarcerated.David Scott, Senior Lecturer Criminology, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/686682016-11-14T19:10:10Z2016-11-14T19:10:10ZWomen in prison: histories of trauma and abuse highlight the need for specialised care<p>Australia’s <a href="https://njca.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Kilroy-Debbie-Women-in-Prison-in-Australia-paper.pdf">female prison population has skyrocketed</a> over the last decade, and most female prisoners have experienced abuse before they get to jail. The way the prison system treats these women risks making their trauma worse, which may boost their risk of re-offending.</p>
<p>Why does this matter? Apart from the fact that re-traumatising abuse victims is wrong, prison is <a href="https://theconversation.com/supporting-not-imprisoning-aboriginal-people-with-disabilities-could-save-millions-48165">costly</a> and it is in everyone’s best interests to treat – not worsen – underlying mental health issues among prisoners who will re-enter society when their sentence ends.</p>
<h2>A growing problem</h2>
<p>The first episode of a <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/insight/tvepisode/lockdown">two-part documentary</a> by SBS Insight on the experiences of female prisoners in a New South Wales maximum security jail illustrated what research confirms: women are typically incarcerated for <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/publications/addressing-womens-victimisation-histories-custodial-settings/profile-women-prison">drug-related offences, fraud and theft</a>.</p>
<p>The causes of female offending behaviour differ significantly from those of males. Female prisoners are <a href="https://njca.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Kilroy-Debbie-Women-in-Prison-in-Australia-paper.pdf">far more likely</a> than men to have been victims of abuse, and this is a key risk factor in their offending and re-offending behaviour. </p>
<p><a href="https://aifs.gov.au/publications/addressing-womens-victimisation-histories-custodial-settings/profile-women-prison">Up to 90%</a> of female prisoners have experienced abuse in their lives. These experiences range from childhood abuse to sexual assault and intimate partner violence during adulthood. As a result, the majority of female prisoners suffer from complex trauma.</p>
<p>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-aboriginal-women-with-disabilities-are-set-on-a-path-into-the-criminal-justice-system-48167">women</a> are <a href="https://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/research-project-files/bw0284-the-family-business-final-report.pdf?sfvrsn=6">affected disproportionately</a>.</p>
<p>The number of women being incarcerated <a href="https://njca.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Kilroy-Debbie-Women-in-Prison-in-Australia-paper.pdf">increased by over 50%</a> between 2005 and 2015. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women make up around <a href="https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/law/aboriginal-prison-rates">30% of all incarcerated women in Australia</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/sites/sbs.com.au.news/files/transcripts/922152_insight_lockdown_transcript.html">stories</a> revealed on Insight told of trauma suffered by incarcerated women, many of whom have lives marked by domestic and community violence. </p>
<p>How can we address this problem? A <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-locking-up-too-many-women-but-the-uk-offers-a-blueprint-for-a-radical-new-approach-65043">body of research</a> on “trauma-informed care” in prison offers a fresh approach. </p>
<h2>What is trauma-informed care?</h2>
<p>Trauma-informed care approaches acknowledge that the majority of prisoners have experienced at least one, if not multiple, traumatic life events. This approach is especially appropriate for high risk and highly vulnerable people. </p>
<p>Trauma-informed care emphasises the importance of <a href="http://cjinvolvedwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Jail-Tip-Sheet-2.pdf">two key areas</a>: </p>
<ul>
<li>the types of services being delivered to prisoners (such as counselling or interventions to address substance misuse);</li>
<li>and the environment these services are delivered in. </li>
</ul>
<p>Having an environment that is warm and welcoming rather than sterile and intimidating is a core feature of trauma-informed care. Prisons, by default, tend toward the latter. </p>
<h2>Reinforcing trauma</h2>
<p>Security procedures like strip searches and pat downs – often carried out or supervised by male officers – can <a href="https://www.bja.gov/Publications/NRCJIW-UsingTraumaInformedPractices.pdf">re-traumatise</a> female prisoners who have experienced abuse in the past.</p>
<p>The prison system generally does not address the mental health issues of many women in jail. This is a problem, because for many women, mental health issues are closely linked to substance abuse. And while drug and alcohol issues are being addressed through relevant programs in many prisons, the long-term effects are often limited because the underlying causes remain untouched.</p>
<p>Female prisoners often experience significant <a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Women-in-the-Criminal-Justice-System-Briefing-Sheets.pdf">loss and grief</a> as a result of being incarcerated. Many female prisoners have dependent children in their care prior to incarceration, especially when sentenced to prison for the first time. While some women may be able to make alternative care arrangements for their children, many experience further trauma and loss when they lose custody of their children. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/law/aboriginal-prison-rates">Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women</a> are also affected by the loss of cultural ties, when they’re removed from their kin and connections to land.</p>
<p>Creating spaces and facilities that allow women to maintain a <a href="http://www.correctiveservices.wa.gov.au/prisons/prison-locations/west-kimberley.aspx">connection to country and kinship</a> is an important part of reducing the trauma suffered by Indigenous female prisoners. </p>
<h2>Trauma and recidivism</h2>
<p>The level of complex trauma experienced by the vast majority of incarcerated women contributes to their risk of re-offending. While women on average serve significantly <a href="https://njca.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Kilroy-Debbie-Women-in-Prison-in-Australia-paper.pdf">shorter sentences</a> than male offenders, they tend to have a higher recidivism rates. </p>
<p>When a woman leaves prison, it is important she be offered holistic and culturally- appropriate services to support her <a href="http://www.nij.gov/journals/269/pages/female-offenders.aspx">re-entry into society</a>. </p>
<p>If complex trauma is left unaddressed, women remain at increased risk of self-medicating, substance abuse, unemployment, mental illness and family breakdown. </p>
<h2>Making prisons trauma-informed</h2>
<p>It’s understandable that certain security measures, such as strip searches, are not expendable in prison settings. But we can look at how they’re performed. For example, a strip search conducted in a space that offers privacy and security would be less likely to re-traumatise a female prisoner than one conducted in full view of other officers or inmates. </p>
<p>Public awareness and acceptance plays a significant role in establishing trauma-informed care as a core feature of prison settings. <a href="http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/norway-has-the-most-luxurious-and-humane-prisons-in-the-world/news-story/d26b8c94de440270abeb2ca7cf9420d4">Media reports</a> often suggest that humane prison models fail to make inmates suffer for their wrongdoings and that this is a problem. In fact, other countries have found that providing humane prison conditions <a href="https://theconversation.com/nordic-prisons-less-crowded-less-punitive-better-staffed-12885">does not increase recidivism rates</a>. If anything, it achieves the opposite.</p>
<p>Until the public is willing to support the idea of prisons as an opportunity for rehabilitation rather than simply punishment, trauma-informed care will struggle to find its place, and incarceration rates will continue to rise.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68668/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Silke Meyer is a non-government member of the Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Death Review and Advisory Board. </span></em></p>To reduce female recidivism rates, we need to address inmates’ histories of trauma and abuse.Silke Meyer, Lecturer in Domestic and Family Violence Practice, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/666602016-10-07T14:32:35Z2016-10-07T14:32:35ZTagging more offenders can’t just be quick fix for prison numbers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140860/original/image-20161007-8956-1si9wcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">24-hour surveillance people. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankle_monitor#/media/File:Bracelet_électronique.JPG">Wikimedia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Electronic tagging of offenders is going to be considerably expanded in Scotland under new plans <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-37544706">announced</a> by the Scottish government, part of a wider trend towards <a href="http://28uzqb445tcn4c24864ahmel.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2016/06/EMEU-Creativity-and-effectiveness-in-EM-Long-version.pdf">more tagging</a> across much of Europe. Where this kind of monitoring is only currently used in Scotland to track convicted offenders for periods of time at home, <a href="http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Expanding-tagging-sentences-2c5a.aspx">in future</a> it will be used for suspects awaiting trial who would otherwise be remanded in custody. </p>
<p>GPS monitoring will be introduced to make it possible to monitor offenders without restricting them to the home for the first time and there are also proposals to trial tags that monitor alcohol levels in the sweat of offenders whose crimes are deemed to be linked to problems with alcohol. </p>
<p>First rolled out in Scotland in 2002, electronic tagging has been slowly expanding ever since. It <a href="http://28uzqb445tcn4c24864ahmel.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2016/06/EMEU-Creativity-effectiveness-EM-Brief_English.pdf">currently</a> accounts for some 11% of all people detained by the criminal justice system. Extending its use <a href="http://28uzqb445tcn4c24864ahmel.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2016/06/EMEU-Creativity-effectiveness-EM-Brief_English.pdf">mirrors</a> trends seen elsewhere in Europe. Many countries already use GPS monitoring, for example. England and Wales are particularly heavy users of tags, while the likes of the Netherlands and Germany use the technology to a lesser extent.</p>
<p>Extending electronic monitoring is attractive to the Scottish government for several reasons. It makes it easier to tailor punishments to the individual and allow them to maintain contact with their families and keep their employment. This is part of a <a href="http://scottishjusticematters.com/wp-content/uploads/SJM_1-2_December2013_ReframingCustodyLo-Res.pdf">wider policy agenda</a> to reduce reoffending with what are <a href="http://www.healthscotland.com/uploads/documents/17101-assetBasedApproachestoHealthImprovementBriefing.pdf">known as</a> “asset-based approaches”, which essentially aim to empower individuals. We see them in other areas such as public health and <a href="http://www.abcdinstitute.org/docs/What%20isAssetBasedCommunityDevelopment(1).pdf">community development</a>.</p>
<p>An equally important priority for the government is reducing Scotland’s prison population, including those people on remand. It is <a href="http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison_population_rate?field_region_taxonomy_tid=14">currently</a> one of the highest in Western Europe at 142 per 100,000 (only England and Wales is slightly higher at 146 per 100,000 – albeit dwarfed by Russia’s 447 and the US’s 693). </p>
<p>Imprisonment incurs massive financial and social costs – and the Scottish government has <a href="http://www.gov.scot/About/Review/spc/About/Review/penalpolicy">long said</a> this must change. Criminal justice professionals refer to electronic tagging reducing prison numbers at the “front door” for remand prisoners; and at the “back door” for releasing prisoners sooner from prison subject to conditions and restrictions. </p>
<p>This is just one of a range of tools the Scottish government is using to address its high prison population. Others include <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/09/8223">reducing the use of</a> short prison sentences and <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Justice/policies/reducing-reoffending/community-justice">reforming</a> community justice services – both of these on the back of <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13200823.SNP_law_against_short_jail_terms__ignored__in_courtrooms/">previous</a> related <a href="http://scottishjusticematters.com/redesigning-community-justice-scotland/">attempts</a>. </p>
<h2>What could go wrong</h2>
<p>Whether more electronic tagging is merely a short-term fix for the prison population or helps reduce reoffending in the longer term depends on the context in which it is used. Simply placing individuals on a tag and restricting their liberty will not address factors underpinning offending behaviour. </p>
<p>Scotland’s last big extension to tagging <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0043/00434434.pdf">in 2006</a> did not have the desired effect. Widely perceived as a move to reduce prison overcrowding, a failure to incorporate other strategies, particularly around sentencing, meant that the number of prisoners kept rising. </p>
<p>This time it is vital that increasing the role of the companies who monitor tags – currently <a href="http://www.g4s.com">G4S</a> – complements the role of criminal justice social workers and other points of contact for offenders, rather than replacing them. These people are considerably skilled at helping offenders and suspects change their behaviour, but they are already stretched. If there’s going to be an increased pool of individuals on community sentences, these support workers need more resources. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140861/original/image-20161007-8965-1hwha6t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tagging contractor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:G4S,Västberga_2009x.jpg#/media/File:G4S,Västberga_2009x.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It also needs to be ensured that increased tagging doesn’t lead to a creeping increase in the number of people in the criminal justice system. It must not make a community sentence a more attractive option than no sentence at all, or extend a sentence beyond what would currently be imposed. This is what is known as “up-tariffing” and “net widening”. </p>
<p>As for using what has been dubbed the “sobriety tag”, this is no doubt influenced by insights from Scotland’s <a href="http://www.actiononviolence.org.uk">Violence Reduction Unit</a> into the links between crime and problematic alcohol consumption. But monitoring sobriety will clearly only help people alongside substantial support aimed at addressing this problem. This area needs considered carefully. </p>
<h2>Supervision nation</h2>
<p>Scotland is right to prioritise moving away from its shamefully high levels of imprisonment, but we shouldn’t be certain that expanding electronic monitoring will reduce the prison population on its own. </p>
<p>Directly comparable statistics are unfortunately not available, but <a href="http://28uzqb445tcn4c24864ahmel.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2016/06/EMEU-Creativity-effectiveness-EM-Brief_English.pdf">research cautions</a> us not to be too optimistic: jurisdictions with high rates of imprisonment also have high rates of electronic monitoring. Scotland has entered an era of mass supervision <a href="http://www.offendersupervision.eu/blog-post/from-mass-incarceration-to-mass-supervision">alongside</a> many other European countries. Community sentences have been growing alongside prison sentences rather than replacing them. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140863/original/image-20161007-8956-dyxvab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=778&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Eyes have it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-416365552/stock-photo-eye-of-providence-in-a-triangles-illustration-perfect-visual-illustration-for-any-disc-or-book-cover-commercial-and-advertising-board-can-be-also-suitable-for-art-project-banner-or-web.html?src=88LjH8hW14Fbu4fszwrilg-1-26">STVinMotion</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While we might argue that electronic tagging is at least less draconian than a prison sentence, such punishments fall under the radar of public concern in a way that the effects of imprisonment do not. This might make it more attractive in a political climate that supports cutting prison populations, yet we should also be wary of the increased use of any criminal sanction.</p>
<p>The results of these reforms need to be closely scrutinised in the coming years to make sure they fulfil their potential and are not simply another quick and easy fix to reduce the prison population. Electronic monitoring still restricts people’s liberty and represents an infliction of pain from the state.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66660/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina Morrison is a part-time learning and development researcher for the Scottish Prison Service, though the views in this piece are entirely in her academic capacity.</span></em></p>Scotland is about to greatly expand its use of tags to have more prisoners serve sentences in their homes and communities.Katrina Morrison, Lecturer in Criminology, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.