Monthly News Bulletin
Email Bulletin February 2008
Welcome to the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies' monthly email bulletin, bringing you a roundup of news, research, political developments, events and updates on our work.
A special welcome to the large number of new subscribers receiving this bulletin for the first time this month.
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO AT CCJS?
PRISONERS' FAMILIES: CIVIC VIRTUE AND POLICIES OF IMPOVERISHMENT
This article, written by Roger Grimshaw, Research Director at the Centre, Rose Smith, Renee Romeo and Martin Knapp, explores the poverty and disadvantage experienced by prisoners' families living at or below the level officially recognised as 'poor'. The full article can be read in Benefits: The journal of poverty and social justice Vol 16. no1. pp. 3-18. For an abstract of the full article and a link to the registration site where the full article can be accessed, click here.
Enver Solomon, Deputy Director, wrote an article for Inside Time, the prisoners newspaper, entitled 'End of conversation' about the Carter review of prisons. It is available here. Enver has also been asked to become a member of the Centre for Social Justice's Review of the CJS advisory group on sentencing and the courts, and he gave a talk, this month, to LSE post graduate students and Professors on the Criminal Justice Audit.
OTHER STUFF AT CCJS
Helen Mills, Research and policy associate, attended the Royal Statistical Society and Home Office's annual `Crime and criminal justice statistics user group'. Helen heard about the new public service agreements for crime and re-offending, measuring confidence and trust in justice and a follow-up update from the Smith Committee review of crime statistics. Mike Hough (Institute for criminal policy research) was a main speaker at the event.
Will McMahon, Policy Director, chaired and was a main speaker at the White Paper Conference in Kensington entitled Anti-social behaviour: Balancing prevention and enforcement.
Richard Garside, Director, was quoted in The Independent on the impact of stop and search on black and ethnic minorities. Read the article here.
Richard also wrote an article for the Evening Standard, arguing that more stop and search was unlikely to address problems of knife carrying in the capital.
Enver Solomon was interviewed on Radio 4's PM programme on use of bail and prison remand and also on 5live on knife crime.
COMING SOON AT CCJS...
LOOK OUT FOR THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE MATTERS (CJM) RELAUNCH
We are pleased to launch our revamped magazine, CJM and announce our new partnership with publishers Routledge. Within the next four to six weeks all of the CJM back catalogue will be available free to members via the Routledge website. This launch issue will be published in March 2008 and will be edited by Dr David Scott of the University of Central Lancashire and will take a detailed look at 'detention' in all its different guises. Covering a variety of settings, the authors will explore prison, psychiatric hospitals, immigration detention centres and police stations. The themed sections of the next issues will concern Influencing policy and practice, Terrorism and Criminalisation. See here for more information.
NEXT SEMINAR IN NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERIES
The next free seminar in the `New developments in criminal justice' series sees the Rt Hon Mrs Justice Dobbs DBE, HM Court Service, discussing demographics and diversity in the judicial system on 24th April. For more information on the lecture series click here or to register please email
with your name, job title, organisation and telephone number.
'CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT RESEARCH'
We will be publishing Critical thinking about research with articles by Professors Tim Hope and Reece Walters. It is the first in a new monograph series titled Evidence-based policy which aims to critically assess government funded research.
'THE SOCIAL COSTS OF DANGEROUSNESS'
The Whose Justice? project will be publishing The Social Costs of Dangerousness by Jamie Bennett, Editor of the Prison service journal, which is an exploration of the concept of dangerousness and the social costs that result from policies developed to manage it.
HAVE YOU SEEN?
11 MILLION REFLECTIONS ON CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW
Sir Al Aynsley-Green, Children's Commissioner for England, delivered the second lecture in the 2007/2008 New developments in criminal justice lecture seminar series, which is available to download here.
NEW VIOLENT CRIME ACTION PLAN
Entitled Saving lives. Reducing harm. Protecting the public, the government has unveiled its latest crackdown. Published on 18 February, proposals include powers for single parents to background check potential partners for sexual offences, mobile metal detecting arches, a £1 million campaign to educate young people on the dangers of knife carrying and, that's right, tougher action on knife carrying. Read the report here.
INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF POLICING
HM Chief of Constabulary, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, released his review of policing on 7 February 2008. The Flanagan report says `The 21st century police service is in danger of becoming a slave to doctrine and straitjacketed by process'. Read the report here.
NEW CRIME MANIFESTO
Boris Johnson has released his crime manifesto which proposes more surveillance, gun and knife scanners and changes to the way communities are planned and built. Read the manifesto here.
JUSTICE MAPPING CENTRE
Very interesting US website that uses computer mapping (Geographic Information Systems) to demonstrate and communicate criminal justice and other social policy information such as `Building Community Capacity to Reduce Crime and Save Prison Space' and `Trying to Break Cycle of Prison at Street Level'.
IN THE NEWS
99% OF YOU WANT THIS
No, not peace love and understanding (or indeed camp, stereotypical images of judges) but, says The Sun1,4,5,6,7,8, the death penalty. (25/02/08)
MINISTERS RULE OUT UNIVERSAL DNA DATABASE
The Home Office minister, Tony McNulty has rejected calls for a national DNA database saying it would be impractical because of security concerns, the financial cost and civil liberties issues. He told the BBC `We think we have the balance and fairness and proportionality about right'. (Observer 24/02/08)
`PARENTS GIVEN POWER TO CHECK FOR PAEDOPHILES'
Home secretary, Jacqui Smith has announced that four police areas will be trialling a system for parents to check whether people who have unsupervised access to their children have been prosecuted for child sex offences. (Observer 17/02/08)
`EVERY CHILD IN SCHOOL NUMBERED FOR LIFE'
The government has revealed plans for a database which will track all children from the age of 14 and include details of their exam results and CV. The information will be permanent and available to colleges and employers. (Guardian 13/02/08)
`GREATER POWERS FOR OFFICIAL SNOOPERS'
A parliamentary question by the Conservatives has led to the government admitting they are introducing 12 new Bills that increase the powers of state inspectors to enter people's homes. (Times 13/02/08)
`FEELING THE PINCH: WHY THE COST OF LIVING RISES FASTER THE POORER YOU ARE'
Although inflation rose to just 2.2% in January, the UK has seen increases in the price of gas and electricity, rail fares, petrol and food way over this figure and people on lower incomes are missing out on the benefits of cheaper electronic appliances and clothing. (Guardian 13/02/08)
LITTLE BUGGERS
There are suggestions that a telephone was illegally bugged to record private conversations between an inmate and his solicitor in another prison. The revelation follows the on-going coverage of the bugging of an MP who visited a terror suspect. The Times also claims that dozens of prisoners are routinely bugged without their knowledge. (Times 05/02/08)
`LABOUR: IF YOU WANT A COUNCIL HOUSE, FIND A JOB'
The new housing minister has proposed that people living in social housing must actively seek employment as part of their tenancy agreement. (Guardian 05/02/08)
WATCHDOG CONDEMNS `SHOCKING' FUEL POVERTY
The Fuel poverty advisory group has critisised the government for the `incomprehensible, unjustifiable and shocking' levels of fuel poverty this week. Consumers pay 50 per cent more on utility bills compared with five years ago while energy companies' costs have risen by only a fraction of this. (Observer 03/02/08)
`WEALTHY "AVOID £13BN OF TAX EVERY YEAR"'
Trade Union Congress has commissioned a study which has revealed that the wealthy avoid paying £13bn in taxes and the largest companies in Britain use loopholes in the law to save themselves £12bn. (Independent 01/02/08)
QUOTES OF THE MONTH
`A London where the Home Secretary feels safe to walk down the street'.
Boris Johnson on what he is hoping to achieve with his new crime manifesto.
`A government really intent on protecting our well being could enforce work safety regulations, police the medical profession, require that clean air standards be met, and funnel sufficient money to the poor to alleviate the major disabilities of poverty, but it does not. Instead we hear a lot of cant about law and order and a lot of rant about crime on the streets. It is as if our leaders were not only refusing to protect us from the major threats to our well being but trying to cover up his refusal by diverting our attention to crime, as if this were the only real threat.'
Jeffrey Reiman (2004). The rich get richer and the poor get prison