Publications
Most of our publications are available online for free. If you would like to purchase a hard copy of a publication please click here.
- Building on sand: Why expanding the prison estate is not the way to 'secure the future'
Professor Carol Hedderman (July 2008) - An analysis of the government's explanation for the relentless rise in prison numbers and suggestions of possible policy reforms to slow the increase. Please click here to download the document. - Street Weapons Commission: Guns, Knives and Street Violence
Professor Peter Squires and Arianna Silvestri with Dr Roger Grimshaw and Enver Solomon (June 2008) - An analysis of street violence in five UK cities for the Channel 4 Street Weapons Commission. Click here to download the document. - 'Gun crime' A review of evidence and policy
Professor Peter Squires with Dr Roger Grimshaw and Enver Solomon (June 2008) - A comprehensive analysis of the nature and extent of the use of firearms in crime and an assessment of policy responses. To download the document and find out more about the project click here. - A crisis of enforcement: The decriminalisation of death and injury at work
Professor Steve Tombs and Dr David Whyte (June 2008) - This briefing argues that fatalities and injuries caused through work are under-reported and the Health and Safety Executive does not have the resources to carry out proper enforcement. It suggests that being a victim of a work-related fatality or injury is far more likely than experiencing conventionally defined and measured violence and homicide. To download the report click here. - The community order and the suspended sentence order: The views and attitudes of sentencers
George Mair, Noel Cross and Stuart Taylor (June 2008) - Research looking at the views of magistrates and judges towards community sentences and the suspended sentence order. Click here for more information and related documents. - Ten years of Labour's youth justice reforms: an independent audit
Enver Solomon and Richard Garside (May 2008) - A wide ranging independent assessment of the government's record on youth justice ten years on from the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act that radically reformed the youth justice system. Click here to download the report. - The use of the Community Order and the Suspended Sentence Order for Women
Sunita Patel and Stephen Stanley (May 2008) - An examination of how community sentences are used for women. Click here for more information and related documents. - Probation Resources, Staffing and Workloads 2001-2008
Dr Mark Oldfield and Dr Roger Grimshaw (April 2008) - Our new report indicates the Probation Service faces a budget and staffing crisis.
Click here to download the report and the summary. - Critical thinking about the uses of research
Professor Tim Hope and Professor Reece Walters (March 2008) - Is the government reluctant to use the learning from critical, independent evidence based analysis and research to inform criminal justice policy making because political priorities too often trump evidence based policy making?
Click here for more details. - The social costs of dangerousness:
Jamie Bennett (March 2008) - A monograph written by Jamie Bennett that explores the social and policy consequences of the government's focus on the concept of 'dangerousness'. Click here for more information. - 'Knife crime'. A review of evidence and policy (2nd edition)
Chris Eades, Roger Grimshaw, Arianna Silvestria and Enver Solmon (December 2007) - This is the second edition of a report originally published in August 2006. It includes the latest official data and a more detailed statistical analysis to determine possible trends in offences involving knives. Find out more here. - Social justice and criminal justice
Rebecca Roberts and Will McMahon (eds) (November 2007) - A collection of essays exploring the themes of social justice and criminal justice, published in November 2007. Click here for more information. - Farepak victims speak out
Dr Basia Spalek and Sam King, University of Birmingham (19 November 2007) - Research findings from interviews with customers affected by the collapse of Farepak. Click here. - The problems of everyday life (Adobe PDF, 251KB)
Dr Vicky Kemp, Professor Pascoe Pleasence and Dr Nigel Balmer (October 2007) - Dr Vicky Kemp, Professor Pascoe Pleasence and Dr Nigel Balmer, Legal Services Research Centre (October 2007). - Scoping study on a community based centre for male adult offenders with multiple needs (Adobe PDF, 380KB)
Dr Roger Grimshaw and Enver Solomon (September 2007) - A report commissioned by Lady Edwina Grosvenor examining options for a radical model to work with adult male offenders who have multiple needs - Knowledgeable consumers? Corporate fraud and its devastating impacts
Dr Basia Spalek, University of Birmingham (August 2007) - A briefing on Dr Spalek's findings from her research on the experiences of people affected by corporate fraud and its long-term impacts. Read more ... - Law-abiding majority? The everyday crimes of the middle classes (Adobe PDF, 162KB)
Professor Susanne Karstedt and Dr Stephen Farrall (June 2007) - Briefing paper presenting research on middle class crime. Click here for more information and to download the publication. - The use of the Community Order and Suspended Sentence Order for Young Adult Offenders
Stephen Stanley (June 2007) - An examination of how community sentences are used for young adults. See here for more information and related documents. - Debating youth justice: From punishment to problem solving (Adobe PDF, 1.5MB)
Zoe Davies and Will McMahon (eds) (May 2007) - A collection of essays by leading experts from the UK and abroad. - Poverty and Disadvantage among prisoners' families
Rose Smith, Roger Grimshaw, Renee Romeo and Martin Knapp (May 2007) - Joseph Rowntree research into poverty and disadvantage among prisoners' families based on interviews with family members and an evaluation of service provision. For the summary and full report click here. - Community Sentences Digest
Enver Solomon and Max Rutherford (May 2007) - Invaluable comprehensive information and analysis about community sentences. Click here to download the document and press release. - The use and impact of the Community Order and the Suspended Sentence Order (Adobe PDF, 558KB)
George Mair, Noel Cross and Stuart Taylor (March 2007) - The first independent examination of the new community sentences. - Ten years of criminal justice under Labour: an independent audit
Enver Solomon, Richard Garside, Chris Eades and Max Rutherford (January 2007) - A wide ranging independent assessment of the government's record on law and order looking at the progress of the criminal justice system since 1997 against many key targets. Click here for more information. - What the public really thinks about community sentences (Adobe PDF, 179KB)
Dr Roger Grimshaw (November 2006) - An evaluation of the 'Local Crime: Community Sentence' project which aims to raise public awareness about the importance of community sentences and to improve public confidence in them. - Welfare and punishment. The relationship between welfare spending and imprisonment
Professor David Downes, London School of Economics & Dr Kirstine Hansen, Institute of Education (November 2006) - A briefing on the relationship between welfare expenditure and levels of punishment. Read more ... - Does criminal justice work? The 'Right for the wrong reasons' debate
Richard Garside and Will McMahon (October 2006) - Following the publication of Right for the wrong reasons in July 2006, the Harm and Society Foundation requested responses to the arguments in the essay. Read more ... - From punishment to problem solving: a new approach to children in trouble (Adobe PDF, 148KB)
Rob Allen (September 2006) - The first in a series of Whose Justice? publications provides a detailed examination of the youth justice system setting out a series of radical reforms. - 'Knife Crime': Ineffective reactions to a distracting problem? – A review of evidence and policy (MS/Word, 24KB)
Chris Eades (August 2006) - Our briefing paper on knife crime 'Knife Crime': Ineffective reactions to a distracting problem? - A review of evidence and policy' is currently being updated and a new version will be published shortly. - Right for the wrong reasons:Making sense of criminal justice failure
Richard Garside (July 2006) - The government never tires of telling us that crime has fallen dramatically in recent years. So why do ministers claim that the criminal justice system is failing and needs radical reform? Read more ... - Serious Organised Crime: A new approach (MS/Word, 97KB)
Chris Eades (May 2006) - A policy briefing paper which considers the threat from organised crime and the government's response to it. - Wings of Learning: the role of the prison officer in supporting prisoner education (Adobe PDF, 1.5MB)
Julia Braggins and Jenny Talbot (November 2005) - A research report looking at prison officers' views of prison education. - Criminal Obsessions. Why harm matters more than crime
Paddy Hillyard, Christina Pantazis, Steve Tombs, Dave Gordon and Danny Dorling (October 2005) - An innovative, groundbreaking critique of conventional criminological approaches to social issues. Read more ... - Punishment before justice? Understanding Penalty Notices for Disorder
Rebecca Roberts & Richard Garside (March 2005) - Briefing paper highlighting concerns arising from the expansion of financial penalties to tackle `disorderly behaviour' and issues relating to the operation of the scheme. Read more ... - Crime, persistent offenders and the justice gap
Richard Garside (October 2004) - Discussion paper. Read more here.