Our latest eBulletin, sent out to subscribers on Monday, 30 June
It’s not obvious that the UK have anything to learn from the Texas when it comes to controlling prison growth.
With a per capita prison population five times the rate of the UK, it is surely Texas that has something to learn from the UK, rather than the other way round?
Yet from a high of over 150,000 in 2007, tough, Republican-led Texas has reduced its prison population to around 130,000 today. Still, much higher than the UK, but an interesting trend nonetheless.
Prompted by the Independent Sentencing Review under David Gauke, there has been a lot of interest, in particular, in the so-called ‘good time’ scheme, under which prisoners in Texas can earn an earlier parole hearing on the basis of good behaviour. The government looks set to propose a similar scheme in England and Wales. The Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, recently told parliament that Texas had “brought their prison population under control”, thanks to the good time scheme.
Is this true? Should the Texas example be embraced enthusiastically? Or should we approach it with more caution?
On Monday 21 July we are going to be exploring this question with one of the foremost US experts on prison and sentencing policy: Michele Deitch. She is a distinguished senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin and former policy director of the Texas sentencing commission. She is currently a visiting academic at the Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford.
As the government gears up for what could be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address a major prisons crisis, it is vital that we learn the correct lessons from the Texas scheme, and avoid mistakes that risk making the problem worse.
Join me, Michele and other invited guests as we discuss whether the UK has anything to learn from Texas.
Richard Garside
Director
Event announcement: Approach with caution
Our next event, on Monday, 21 July, is ‘Approach with caution: Does the UK have anything to learn from Texas?’. We will hear from Michele Deitch, one of the foremost US experts on prisons and sentencing policy.
Prompted by the Independent Sentencing Review under David Gauke, there has been a lot of interest in the so-called ‘good time’ scheme, under which prisoners in Texas can earn an earlier parole hearing on the basis of good behaviour.
Last year, Michele Deitch argued that the good time scheme was “necessary but not sufficient by itself”. Significant investment in community-based programmes and services, limitations on recall, and effective resettlement programmes were among other factors that helped Texas reduce its prison population.
For more information, and to register, check out the event page.
Echoes of tomorrow
Concluding a busy month for the Centre, last week we held our Annual Event Echoes of tomorrow.
Speaking at the event were two leading criminologists Dr Michael Fiddler and Dr Travis Linnemann, who, along with our Director, Richard Garside, discussed the influence of the past and the future on the present of criminal justice policy. Fiddler and Linnemann use the metaphor of ‘ghosts’ to examine how present-day policy-making is ‘haunted’ by past decisions and future expectations.
The event was inspired by their article ‘Ghost Criminology’ (co-authored with Dr Theo Kindynis), which was awarded this year’s prestigious Radzinowicz Price for the best article in The British Journal of Criminology.
This was hybrid event, with the audience joining us both in-person in our office, as well as online. We were pleased to share a delicious buffet with the in-person attendees, cooked up for us by Ela Ciecierska, from our local cafe, the Bonnington Cafe.
If you missed the event, or were there and want to watch it again, a recording will be available shortly.
Winners of the Mike Guilfoyle Essay Prize
This month, we were pleased to announce the winners of the Mike Guilfoyle Essay Prize:
- Winner: Anne Burrell (read here)
- Highly Commended: Jamal Hylton (read here)
- Commended: Ben Entwistle, Christine Munn (due to be published next month)
This annual competition honours the legacy of Mike Guilfoyle, a dedicated probation officer and active Napo member, by encouraging reflections on all that is valuable and important in probation.
This year’s essay question was What does professionalism mean in probation?
Congratulations to this years winners, and to everyone who sent in a submission. Additionally, thank you to our judging panel, who comprised of Ben Cockburn (NAPO National Chair), Ruth Bloomfield (MOPAC), Paul Weatherstone (Probation Service), and Jake Phillips (University of Cambridge).
Reflecting on the competition, Jake Phillips stated:
Judging these essays was a real delight – they all captured something about Mike and his approach to probation and professionalism; congratulations to everyone who submitted and especially to the worthy winner.
Parliament debates Joint Enterprise
Last week, MPs debated the amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently sitting in the report stage.
Among those debated was the proposal to amend Joint Enterprise laws, thereby restricting the law to apply only to those who make a 'significant contribution' to the crime. The amendment was tabled by Kim Johnson MP, chair of the All-Parliamentary Group on Miscarriages of Justice.
The Centre is pleased to have been able to contribute to the parliamentary briefing circulated to MPs ahead of the debate.
You can read more about Joint Enterprise here.
An update on the IPP Bill
Lord Woodley’s Private Members’ Bill, Imprisonment for Public Protection (Re-Sentencing) Bill is currently sitting in the Committee Stage. The various amendments to the Bill are due to be debated in the House of Lords on the 4th of July.
We will keep you updated on the outcome of the debate. In the meantime, if you would like to share your thoughts, please drop us a line.
Interested in writing a Working Paper?
Last September, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies launched the Working Paper Series, with the purpose to provide a vehicle for research and analysis of an exploratory and innovative nature.
So far, we are pleased to have published:
- Imprisonment for Public Protection - A failure of the Perfect World Paradigm, by Dr Mike Lauder
- Towards Reform: Contexts and Challenges of Indefinite Sentences, by Dr Roger Grimshaw
- Imprisonment for Public Protection – The dynamics of the failure, by Dr Mike Lauder
- What's wrong with the independent custody visiting scheme? A theoretical perspective, by Dr John Kendall
- Reimagining youth safety: Practitioner reflections on multi-agency police involvement with marginalised young people, by Njilan Morris-Jarra
We welcome those who may be interested in writing from a fresh and interesting perspective about topical criminal justice issues in the UK. Working papers can be based, among other things, on practice experience, policy expertise or research knowledge, and should be practically, rather than theoretically, focused.
You can read more about the guidelines, and how to express interest, here.
Commentary and analysis
This month, Dr Emily Evans outlines the key points made in the recent Public Accounts Committee report on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). This follows the government's committment to halve violence against women and girls in the next decade is part of the 'Safe Streets Mission', which was the focus of our recent parliamentary breakfast briefing, held in collaboration with the Univerisity of Birmingham.
Interested in submitting a comment piece? Drop us a line.
What’s what in The British Journal of Criminology?
For more than sixty years, The British Journal of Criminology has published some of the most significant research in the field.
A number of open-access advance articles have been published this month:
- Carly Lightowlers and Lucy Bryant consider the impact of off-trade alcohol availability on levels of violence and domestic violence
- Rebecca Jayne Oswald explores the value of work integration social enterprises (WISE) for desistance from crime
- Julian Molina discusses the origins of predictive systems and the work of British criminologist Leslie Wilkins
- Allely Albert analyses the previous criticism faced by local restorative justice organisations in Northern Ireland
- Tully O’Neill and Bianca Fileborn assess the affective economics of digital justice and acitivism on street harassment
- Leandro Schclarek Mulinari looks at the role of clothing in racial profiling in Sweden
- Niles Breuer, Federico Varese, and Elena Racheva investigate the structure of the fraterninity of the Russian Mafia
- Henrik Vigh and David Sausdal discuss how contemporary crime operates in a 'grey zone'
Prison Service Journal
The next issue of the PSJ should be out later this month, and, if you haven’t had a chance already, the May issue is available to read and download here.
We are in the process of digitising and uploading the entire back catalogue of Prison Service Journal, from the first edition in 1960. A complete run from 1960 to 1991 is currently available, alongside a complete run from September 2010 to the present day.
News from our partners
We are pleased to announce that we are now a Friend of the National Women's Justice Coalition (NWJC). Earlier this year, we collaborated with the NWJC on both the Breaking Out of the Justice Loop report, and its launch event, and we look forward to more opportunities to work together in the future.
In March, our friends at StopWatch published the report of their Girls & Young Women's Research Project. Last week, our Policy and Research Officer Liat Tuv had the opportunity to attend the formal launch of the report, hosted by Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP at the House of Commons. You can read more about the event, and the report, here.
Support our work
In the last 12 months, around one pound in every ten we received in income came from individual donations. We are so appreciative of the vital support we receive from our donors and supporters.
If you like what we do, and can afford to make a donation to support our important work, we would be very grateful.
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