Custody versus the alternatives

Those working in criminal justice/probation may be interested in recent and possibly conflicting reports in this area. A report from the Ministry of Justice (2012), Process evaluations on intensive alternatives to custody, which assesses the efficacy of Intensive Alternatives to Custody in seven pilot areas of England and Wales. Initial finding indicate that the IAC orders were welcomed by both persistent offenders and seen as positive and effective by those working in sentencing and probation.
Meanwhile Civitas: Institute for the study of Civil Society have published Acquisitive Crime: imprisonment, detection and social factors which argues that longer custodial sentences are effective in reducing the number of future offences. Paul McDowell, chief executive of Nacro, argues that the Civitas analysis is flawed in todays Guardian .

Prison or restorative justice?

There's been a lot of discussion in this weeks media about the efficacy of long versus short sentences and community justice versus prison. Todays Guardian carries an interview with a victim of burglary and the perpetrator and their experiences of restorative justice. Guardian, May 21.

New Scottish Government E-documents

The following e-documents have been added to the catalogue with links:
National Health Service Scotland (2010). Health in Scotland 2009: time for change.
Scottish Government (2010). Tackling child poverty in Scotland: a discussion paper.
Landy, R., Walsh, D. & Ramsey, J. (2010). The Scottish Health Survey: the Glasgow effect.
Page, L. (2010). 2009/10 Scottish crime and justice survey: main findings.
Fraser, A. (2010). Youth violence in Scotland: literature review.
Scottish government. (2010). Refreshing the national strategy and action plan to prevent suicide in Scotland: report of the National Suicide Prevention Group.
Scotland. Communities Analytical services. (2010). Domestic abuse, housing and homelessness in Scotland: an evidence review.
Scottish Government. (2010). An assessment of the development of telecare in Scotland 2006-2010.

On Care knowledge - Scottish Reports

The Scottish Government have published this years MAPPA, Multi Agency Public Protection annual reports, one for each of the Scottish Criminal Justice Authorities. The reports offer statistics on the number of offenders being managed and also detail what arrangements are made in each community to manage offenders who pose a risk to the public. The reports have been collected together by CareKnowledge for convenient viewing.

Also on Careknowledge: Landy, R., Walsh, D. & Ramsey, J. (2010). The Scottish Health Survey: the Glasgow effect. Scottish Goverment. This examines health inequalities in relation to socio-economic factors.

Community Payback Orders in Scotland

Community Payback orders effectively replace Community Service Orders, Probation Orders and Supervised Attendance Orders. Read more in:
 McNeill, F. (2010). Community payback and the new national standards for criminal justice social work. Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research.
This report was highlighted by the Carekowledge Service.

The Norway town that forgave it's child killers.

Some years ago I read about the case of the murder of five year old Silje Redergard by two young boys, no doubt in comparison to the media frenzy surrounding the trial, in an adult court, of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson for the murder of James Bulger. Given the recent media coverage of Jon Venables readmission to custody following alleged breaches of licence, it seems pertinent again to compare the treatment of children committing the most serious of crimes in this country, where the tabloid press excert such power in public opinion and can influence the actions of the home secretary, with the Norwegian case. See Guardian, March 20, 2010.

This week in CareKnowledge

Weaver, b. (2010). Multi agency protection arrangements (MAPPA): what do the statistics tell us? Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research.
Scottish Executive (2010). Criminal Justice Social work Statistics. Information probation orders, social enquiry reports and community service orders in 2008/9.

New E-documents

Speight, S. et al. (2010). Families experiencing multiple disadvantage: their use of and views on childcare provision. National Centre for Social Research.
Silvestra, A. (2009). Young people, knives and guns: a comprehensive review, analysis and critique of gun and knife crime strategies. Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.
Stanley, N. et al. (2010). Children and families experiencing domestic violence: police and childrens' social services' responses. NSPCC.
Loureiro, T. & Fellow, L. (2009). Child and family impact assessments in court: implications for policy and practice. Families Outside.
Centre for Social Justice. (2010). Green paper on the family. Centre for Social Justice.
Ministry of Justice. Reducing re-offending: supporting families, creating better futures.
Esley, S. (2010). "Advocacy makes you feel brave": advocacy support for children and young people in Scotland. Scottish Parliament.

Cutting crime: the case for justice reinvestment

The House of Commons Justice Committee first report, Cutting crime: the case for justice reinvestment examines the current situation where, under successive governments, the UK prison population has risen, and the failure to address the causes of the increase, including media and public opinion, politicisation of the criminal justice system and the failure of agencies outside the criminal justice system to effectively reduce the numbers of people entering the criminal justice system. See also coverage in the Guardian January 15 2009.

Banks accounts help to reduce reoffending

A project which furnishes prisoners with bank accounts has been shown to reduce reoffending rates. Staff at Forest Bank private prison in Manchester worked with the Cooperative bank, enabling prisoners to open bank accounts while serving their terms. For 60%  prisoners, this was the first time they had held a bank account and participants reported increased feelings of self respect in addition to the practical benefits when finding employment or accomodation. The first report of the follow up of prisoners (2008) showed reconviction rates reduced by around 50% of the national average, and the 2009 follow up of the original group continues to show the same rate of success. See Guardian, 3 December online.

Prison Population Rises

Scottish Prison Statistics published yesterday show that the Scottish Prison population increased by 6% last year, with 75% of people completing short prison sentences going on to reoffend.