Monthly News Bulletin
Email Bulletin May 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.
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?
Youth Justice Audit published
We published a major analysis of the government's youth justice reforms. `Ten years of Labour's youth justice reforms: an independent audit' by Enver Solomon and Richard Garside examines progress against the targets set by the government and the Youth Justice Board to tackle youth offending since the reforms introduced in the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act. It argues that success has been far more mixed and ambiguous than the government often claims. The report was trailed ahead in The Sunday Times and the Sunday Telegraph.
On the day the report was published it received widespread coverage on BBC Today programme and the national press. Former head of the Youth Justice Board, Rod Morgan, said of the Audit `The general conclusions are almost incontrovertible. They are quite apparent from all the available data.' Click to listen to the Today Programme and click to read Deborah Orr's article in the Independent.
Carter Review event
In collaboration with the International Centre for Prison Studies and the Institute of Criminal Policy Research we held an invite only symposium, The Prisons Crisis - Where Next?, to critically examine the proposals set out in Lord Carter's Review of Prisons. It was attended by senior civil servants, academics and policy makers and included presentations by the Director General of NOMS, Phil Wheatley, and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken MacDonald.
Community sentences report
The Centre has published its latest work on community sentences, `The Use of the Community Order and Suspended Sentence Order for Women' by Stephen Stanley and Sunita Patel. The report was launched following a stakeholder seminar to discuss the findings attended by magistrates, senior civil servants and practitioners.
Criminalisation of education policy
The Centre held a seminar to discuss the subject of the criminalisation of education policy. It was attended by a range of experts from education, psychology and criminal justice fields and heard introductions on drug policy, the use of penalties against parents whose children are absent and the growing behavioural contract culture. It is likely that the Centre will co-produce a book on the criminalisation of various aspects of social policy in the near future.
In the shadow of prison
Dr Roger Grimshaw, Research Director, spoke at a seminar and book launch for 'In the Shadow of Prison: Families, imprisonment and criminal justice' written by Helen Codd, Principal Researcher in Law at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
Crime info
The Centre is credited and recognition given to CrimeInfo as the new Parole Board website is short-listed in the prestigious Institute of Public Relations Excellence Awards 2008.
Request for information: Do you know any voluntary or community based projects working with Black young people affected by crime in Birmingham or Southwark?
As part of our research project exploring the approaches of voluntary and community based organisations working with Black young people affected by crime, we are currently looking for organisations carrying out this work in Birmingham or Southwark. If you are aware of any organisations that might be appropriate for this research, or for more details about the project, please contact
.
Other stuff
Enver Solomon took part in a round-table on guns, gangs and knives organised by '11 Million' the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England. Enver also spoke at a conference in Leeds, 'The Crime and Disorder Act 1998: ten years on' organised by the University of Leeds. Will McMahon introduced the work of the Centre to health professionals at a seminar at University College London. Helen Mills attended Clinks event on race for justice consultation. Helen has also been interviewing probation staff and those subject to community sentences for the community sentences project. Richard Garside attended the Index on Censorship annual freedom of expression awards. He also spoke at a House of Commons event, organised by John McDonnell MP, on future criminal justice policy. Richard also attended a roundtable event, organised by the Smith Institute, on pathways into and out of the criminal justice system.
Also, coming soon...
A crisis of enforcement
You are invited to the launch of a new Centre for Crime and Justice Studies publication `A Crisis of Enforcement' on Tuesday 17th June 2008 in Committee Room 9 of the House of Commons from 4pm to 6pm. Speakers include Hugh Robertson, Senior Policy Officer on Health and Safety, TUC; Richard Garside, Director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies; Steve Tombs and Dave Whyte, authors of the publication and will be chaired by Katy Clark MP. If you would like to attend please e-mail
with your name, job title, organisation and telephone number.
Eve Saville
The Annual Eve Saville Memorial Lecture will be taking place on 1 July 2008, 6-7pm in the Great Hall, King's College London. It will be presented by Professor Richard Wilkinson, University of Nottingham on Dysfunctional societies: why inequality matters. Please follow the link above for details and to register.
Una Padel Award
The Una Padel Award 2008 is due to be launched in June. Further details about this year's award can now be downloaded.
HAVE YOU SEEN?
Plaid Cymru spokesperson on crime, Leanne Wood AM, recently appeared on the BBC's politics show to launch her new paper from the Plaid Cymru Policy Development Unit, `Making our Communities Safer (Cymunedau Mwy Diogel).
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has announced the new Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Professor David Nutt has been appointed chair designate. Professor Nutt spoke at the Centre's `From Criminal Justice to Social Justice?' conference last year. Read an account of his research which argues that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than LSD and cannabis here in the Guardian.
Fear of crime or anxiety about change?
Research, funded by the Economic & Social Research Council, shows that our everyday concerns about crime are much less frequent than previously thought. For those people who live relatively protected lives, the fear of crime tends to be a more diffuse feeling that reflects a broader expression of concerns about social change. For full details please read here.
Stop and search and prison population data
The Metropolitan Police has released information on London borough Stop and Search Monitoring Reports February 2008; Click here and scroll down to Thursday 1 May 2008. The Ministry of Justice has published information on: 'Population in custody (March 2008)'.
IN THE NEWS
`The fear factor'
Jamie Bennett, author of the CCJS online report, `The Social Cost of Dangerousness', criticises the vague concept of `dangerousness', identifying an obsession that leads to irrational and damaging imprisonment policies. Guardian Society 6
Economics, Labour's crime policy and knife crime
Deputy director Enver Solomon has had a busy month. First he writes on why money should be spent on social programmes that aim to reduce the number of people entering the criminal justice system, rather than investing in the prison system. The Guardian(07/05/2008). Then he examined Labour's record on crime and justice for Progress magazine and finished with a discussion of the causes behind `knife crime'.
`Reefer madness'
`The PM will announce tougher laws on cannabis possession, despite medical experts and police believing it is wrong. The former Chief Inspector of Prisons has said that prohibition does not work. Richard Garside, Director of the Centre said that if drug classification was based on the harm caused to society `alcohol would be higher than some Class-B drugs.' The Independent (07/05/2008)
How to stop them first?
`Criminologists at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies agree that the most dangerous children are also the most brutalised.' Daily Telegraph (08/05/2008)
Boris's crime revolution
The new Mayor of London will `pour more police on to the capital's crime hit streets, and plans to introduce hand-held weapon scanners and knife-detecting "arches" at tube and railway stations'. Sunday Telegraph (04/05/2008) In a letter in the Evening Standard (07/05/2008), Rebecca Roberts, senior policy associate, comments on Boris Johnson's plans for tackling youth crime in London here.
`40% of Britons commit crime'
According to a survey commissioned by G4S Security Services, four in ten Britons have shoplifted or dodged a fare; one in four thinks it is acceptable to consume items and not pay for them and millions of us do not find it objectionable to take stationery from work (CCJS published a similar report last year. To download click here).
The most deprived areas of England
The Department for Communities and Local Government has released a report ranking all of England's 354 local authorities in terms of deprivation - including measures such as crime, education, housing, health and income. Liverpool has been named the most deprived area. Meanwhile, Nottingham has become the first city to launch measures which aim to tackle the cycle which condemns many of the poorest children to educational failure and a life of crime. The Independent (02/05/2008 and 12/05/2008)
Asbos and SOCA `in their death throes'
The number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (asbos) issued has fallen by a third compared to the previous year, according to new Home Office figures, amidst claims that the Government is distancing itself from asbos, which are regarded as Tony Blair's `flagship measure'. Meanwhile, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the police unit set up in 2006 to focus on `the top 130 criminals', is being restructured after only bringing a handful of cases. The Times (09/05/2008 and 13/05/2008)
Working lives unbearable for millions in the UK
A report from the TUC's Commission on Vulnerable Employment claims that more than 2 million workers are forced to endure `intolerably poor working lives' being subjected to abuse from employers on a daily basis. Particularly hit are those working in care homes, hotels, cleaning, restaurants, hair dressing and beauty, construction and security. Observer (04/05/2008)
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
`Is a person who kills another at a bar brawl a greater threat to society than a business executive who refuses to cut his profits in order to make his plant a safe place to work? By any measure of death and suffering the latter is by far a greater danger than the former. But because he wishes his workers no harm, because he is only indirectly responsible for death and disability while pursuing legitimate economic goals, his acts are not called crimes. Once we free our imagination from the irrational shackle of the one-on-one model of crime, can there be any doubt that the criminal justice system does not protect us from the gravest threats to life and limb?'
'Rich get richer and the poor get prison', Jeffrey Reiman, 1984
And for one month only - GRAPH OF THE MONTH...
...is worth a look (Adobe PDF, 5KB).Reprinted with kind permission from the Journal of Social Policy.
This graph is based on australian data. Does anyone know of an equivalent piece of research for the UK? Email if you do.