Articles on Prison

Displaying 1 - 20 of 67 articles

To improve on a building like the Don Dale centre, design that properly considers human behaviour needs to take priority for its replacement. Neda Vanovac/AAP

August 13, 2017

The bad buildings scream – lessons from Don Dale and other failed institutions

Architecture can affect behaviour and the choices we make. The brief is out for a centre to replace the Don Dale facility, but word is, it's 'a disgrace'. We can do much better.

The prison system is tasked with several purposes: punishment, deterrence, protection and rehabilitation. AAP/Paul Miller

June 13, 2017

Three charts on: Australia’s booming prison population

Sophie Russell, UNSW and Eileen Baldry, UNSW

The largest increases in Australia's prison numbers have been in remand, Indigenous and women prisoners.

A protest in support of Raymond Suttner released from detention in 1988 by apartheid authorities. Robert Botha/Times Media Group

June 8, 2017

It’s cold outside Zuma’s ANC. But there’s little warmth left inside

Raymond Suttner, Rhodes University

In the new introduction to his prison memoir South African anti-apartheid stalwart Raymond Suttner uses the word 'betrayal' to explain his break from the ANC.

June 6, 2017

Why prisons should make more time for inmates’ families

Anna Kotova, University of Exeter

Access to loved ones helps reduce reoffending.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is pushing for stricter sentencing in criminal cases. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

May 30, 2017

America’s mass incarceration problem in 5 charts – or, why Sessions shouldn’t bring back mandatory minimums

Tanya Golash-Boza, University of California, Merced

Jeff Sessions wants prosecutors to 'charge and pursue the most serious, readily provable offense.' That's a step back to our failed experiment in mass incarceration.

May 17, 2017

An insider’s guide to being transgender in prison

Mia Harris, University of Oxford

A new book describes what it's like to be a transgender woman in a men's prison.

Ian Brady in police custody in 1965. PA Wire/PA Images

May 16, 2017

Ian Brady’s lack of remorse for Moors Murders guaranteed the media’s enduring fascination

Ian Cummins, University of Salford and Martin King, Manchester Metropolitan University

The serial killer Ian Brady has died at the age of 79.

Over a period of 30 years, millions of criminals and political prisoners were sent to Soviet labor camps. Wikimedia Commons

May 8, 2017

In letters from Stalin’s labor camps, a window into Soviet political oppression

Emily Johnson, University of Oklahoma

The recently translated letters of Latvian poet and journalist Arsenii Formakov depict everyday life – and suffering – in the Gulag.

April 6, 2017

What hospital catering could learn from the prison system

Jeff Bray, Bournemouth University and Heather Hartwell, Bournemouth University

Serving hot, fresh, nutritious food in hospitals should be considered part of the clinical care.

A glimpse behind bars. Cropped from krystiano/flickr

March 21, 2017

Private prisons, explained

Brett C. Burkhardt, Oregon State University

The White House is pushing for more private prisons. But do the industry's promised benefits hold up to scrutiny?

Police training is crucial to crime prevention. Shutterstock

March 14, 2017

How to cut Australia’s $48 billion crime bill

Rick Sarre, University of South Australia

We need to redirect government spending on crime prevention to programs and policies that the research tells us are most effective.

March 8, 2017

We need to do something about prison diets for pregnant women

Caroline Taylor, University of Bristol

Prison food budgets are as low as £1.87 per person per day. This may not be enough to provide adequate nutrition for a pregnant woman and her baby.

Anders Breivik during the appeal hearing in January. Lise Aaserud/EPA

March 2, 2017

The saga of Anders Breivik’s prison conditions puts European democracy in the spotlight

Panos Kapotas, University of Portsmouth

A Norwegian appeal court has ruled that the mass murderer's human rights are not being violated by the conditions of his imprisonment.

Inmates wait to enter an assigned cell block at the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File

February 21, 2017

Inmates are excluded from Medicaid – here’s why it makes sense to change that

Tyler Winkelman, University of Michigan; Amy Young, University of Michigan, and Megan Zakerski, University of Michigan

Repealing a legal provision that excludes people in prison or jail from Medicaid could improve access to treatment, save state and local governments money and reduce recidivism.

The Norwegian government wants the right to keep Anders Behring Breivik i solitary confinement. Lise Aserud/EPA

January 11, 2017

Norway’s human rights appeal over the prison conditions of Anders Breivik – explained

William Henderson, Glasgow Caledonian University

The European Court of Human Rights will consider whether Breivik's human rights have been violated by his solitary detention.

Some homeless youth facing criminal charges in NSW are being accommodated in prisons. Adrian Fallace/flikr

December 15, 2016

NSW bail laws mean well but are landing homeless kids in prison

Katherine McFarlane, Charles Sturt University

Homeless children charged in NSW with a criminal offence who are unable to meet bail conditions are being kept in custody. It's due, in part, to a well-meant but flawed section of the Bail Act.

Deaths after leaving custody are often ‘hidden’ from proper scrutiny. Peter Macdiarmid/PA Wire

December 13, 2016

The criminal justice system is failing to prevent suicides among people released from custody

Jake Phillips, Sheffield Hallam University; Loraine Gelsthorpe, University of Cambridge, and Nicola Padfield, University of Cambridge

New research suggests 400 people have died from suspected suicide within 48 hours of leaving police detention in the last seven years.

November 24, 2016

The real prison crisis is the damage the system does to its prisoners

Anastasia Chamberlen, University of Warwick

Little thought is given to the well-being of those in custody.

Denying prisoners internet access seriously damages their prospects of rehabilitation. Lightspring from www.shutterstock.com

November 15, 2016

Give prisoners internet access for a safer and more humane community

Mirko Bagaric, Swinburne University of Technology and Dan Hunter, Swinburne University of Technology

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.

Up to 90% of Australian female prisoners were victims of abuse prior to incarceration. AAP Image/Dave Hunt

November 14, 2016

Women in prison: histories of trauma and abuse highlight the need for specialised care

Silke Meyer, CQUniversity Australia

To reduce female recidivism rates, we need to address inmates' histories of trauma and abuse.

Top contributors

Ian Cummins
Senior Lecturer in Social Work, University of Salford
Raymond Suttner
Emeritus Professor, University of South Africa and part-time professor Rhodes University, Rhodes University
Peter Norden
Adjunct Professor, School of Global, Social and Urban Studies, RMIT University
Bernadette McSherry
Foundation Director, Melbourne Social Equity Institute, University of Melbourne
Jane Andrew
Associate Professor, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney
Jan Golembiewski
Researcher, UNSW
Mirko Bagaric
Professor of Law, Swinburne University of Technology
Rick Sarre
Professor of Law, University of South Australia
Max Baker
Senior lecturer, University of Sydney
Les Back
Professor of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London
Jonathan Shepherd
Director, Violence and Society Research Group and Professor of Surgery, Cardiff University
Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay
Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Birmingham
Dan Hunter
Dean, Swinburne Law School, Swinburne University of Technology
Maggie Hall
Adjunct Lecturer, UNSW, Lecturer, School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University
Chris Cunneen
Professor of Criminology, UNSW