Our April 2015 ebulletin is out now!
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?
Agenda for Justice Matters for women conference
Our Senior Research Associate Rebecca Roberts has been busy organising the all-day 'Justice Matters for women: Time for action' conference taking place in London on Wednesday 20 May. The provisional agenda and list of speakers is now available to view on our website. It looks like it's going to be a very positive and productive day!
What are the alternatives to prison?
On 21 April we held an event in collaboration with the University of Liverpool where we discussed radical alternatives to prison. Click here to read more about it and watch opening presentations by Rebecca Roberts, Dr John Moore and Dr Deborah Drake.
The coalition years' tartan tour
On 22 April the Centre's Director, Richard Garside, spoke about our new report on criminal justice in the UK since 2010 at an Open University Scotland event in Edinburgh. Read his speech here.
Crime is up. Crime is down. What's really going on?
Puzzled by the latest instalment of crime statistics? Wondering what it actually means when they say crime has gone up or down? Richard Garside has written a nice little guide to what the data really shows.
HAVE YOU SEEN?
British Journal of Crim-WIN-ology
The editors of the British Journal of Criminology have announced the joint winners of the 2014 Radzonowicz Prize for articles that contribute most to knowledge of criminal justice issues and the development of criminology. The winners are N. Shalhoub-Kevorkian for 'Criminality in spaces of death: the Palestinian case study'; and Sharon Pickering and Julie Ham for 'Hot pants at the border: sorting sex work from trafficking'. Read all about it here.
Stolen lives and missed opportunities
Ayesha Carmouche, Policy and Parliamentary Officer at INQUEST, has written an article for us about how prisons fail to protect children and young people in their care and deal with their social problems.
I would build...an alternative to the corporation
Steve Tombs has written a great piece on what he would build in place of criminal justice: an alternative to the corporation. Read it here.
The right level of intervention
This month Mike Guilfoyle has written about his supervisory experience with the charismatic 'Seymour'.
Secure Colleges - what could possibly go wrong?
An article on the Reclaim Justice Network website explains what is wrong with 'Secure Colleges' and highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding and response to young people who break the law. Read it here.
New blogs from our partners at the Open University
Colleagues over at our partner organisation, the International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research at the Open University, have added a few more blogs to their online comment series. Take a peak here.
COMING SOON
Racism and justice: Using research to hold the state to account
This roundtable event on Tuesday, 12 May will bring together researchers, academics and activists to consider the role of research in exposing and addressing racism and discrimination in criminal justice policy and practice.
Justice matters for women: Time for action!
On Wednesday, 20 May we're holding a one-day conference together with Women in Prison to build collective action for challenging criminal justice failure and building socially just alternatives. The provisional agenda and speaker list is now available.
Alternatives to custody: A critical look at UK practice and policy
On Wednesday, 10 June we're holding a workshop to assess important developments in alternatives to custody across the UK since 2000, focusing on the work of women's centres; maturity assessments for young adults; and the use of electronic monitoring and tracking through various stages of the justice process.
Is the Empire coming home?
At this seminar on Tuesday, 16 June Dr John Moore will talk about his recent paper 'Is the Empire coming home?'. In this article he rejects the view that the rapid expansion of the criminal justice system is a product of the emergence of neo-liberalism, and instead links present day penal policy with strategies developed in colonial times.
Challenging state and corporate impunity: Is accountability possible?
On 19 June we're holding a one-day event with the University of Liverpool bringing together people from a range of organisations to discuss how to hold state and corporate institutions to account.
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS...
The MET gangs matrix - institutional racism in action
Lee Bridges, Trustee of the Centre, has written an article for the Institute of Race Relations where he examines the ethnic composition of the Metropolitan Police Service's gangs database.
The myth of police reform
Ta-Nehisi Coates, writing in The Atlantic, questions the ability of the criminal justice system to deal with social problems and discusses the futility of penal reform.
Report into less lethal weapons
A joint report by Amnesty International and Omega Research Foundation released this month investigates the human rights impact of less lethal weapons and other law enforcement equipment used in places of detention and in policing of protests.
Election de-confuse-inator
Confused about what the parties are offering in this election? This BBC comparison tool outlines in simple terms where each party stands on different issues, including law and order.
This is how not to do a graph...
The prize for the most mis-leading graph of the election goes to the LibDems for this abomination.
IN THE NEWS.......
Justice system fails families of those who die in custody
Home Secretary Theresa May has written a letter to the families of two people who have died in custody saying she wants to remove the barriers that prevent them getting answers, The Guardian reported.
NUMBERS OF THE MONTH
14,664 - the number of assault incidents in prisons in England and Wales in 2013.
16,196 - the number of assault incidents in prisons in England and Wales in 2014, the highest number in the last decade.
23,230 - the number of self-harm incidents in prisons in England and Wales in 2013.
25,775 - the number of self-harm incidents in prisons in England and Wales in 2014.
6,942 - the number of individuals self-harming in prisons in England and Wales in 2013.
7,722 - the number of individuals self-harming in prisons in England and Wales in 2014.
Source: Safety in custody statistics quarterly update
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
'The problem of restoring police authority is not really a problem of police authority, but a problem of democratic authority. It is what happens when you decide to solve all your problems with a hammer. To ask, at this late date, why the police seem to have lost their minds is to ask why our hammers are so bad at installing air-conditioners. More it is to ignore the state of the house all around us. A reform that begins with the officer on the beat is not reform at all. It's a continuance of the American preference for considering the actions of bad individuals, as opposed to the function and intention of systems.' Ta-Nehisi Coates, writing in The Atlantic about talk of police reform in the wake of the shooting of Walter Scott.
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This bulletin was compiled and edited by Matt Ford and Rebecca Roberts. We are always keen to hear from our readers. For comments and feedback email matt.ford@crimeandjustice.org.uk.