Our April eBulletin is out

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?

Crime stats: the known unknowns
Crime statistics have been on the agenda this month. In a comment piece on our website, Professor Tim Hope argues that the most surprising thing about revelations that police 'fiddle' crime figures is that it came as any surprise at all. Professor Marian Fitzgerald of the University of Kent writes on how recent trends have 'baffled' criminologist and looks at the complexities in understanding the reality behind the figures. This was picked up by The Observer, running with the headline 'Police officers despise fiddling crime statistics'.

Attention then turned to violence with Richard Garside arguing that we know very little about trends in violence and explanations for them. In a further piece Marian Fitzgerald said that the 15 per cent fall in the overall crime survey figure was 'too good to be true', although a fall in violence was entirely predictable in a time of recession. Then there was also the *shocking* revelation that Melanie Phillips, writing in The Times, appears to agree. You can read a summary of news coverage here.

Talking about the unimaginable
Helen Mills, Research Associate, writes about last month's Justice Matters for Women event and the shared interesting in 'asking how we get out of the criminal justice box – not only in terms of how we get women out of prison or the criminal justice system – but how do we as campaigners, communities, practitioners, and concerned individuals avoid being trapped in a criminal justice silo that is fundamentally unhelpful for women'. Laurel Townhead of Women in Prison writes on the next steps for the initiative: namely putting together a call for action and working with others to 'keep challenging the over-expansion of criminal justice into women’s lives and equipping ourselves to articulate a vision for a just world for women'. 

Criminal industrial complex
Jordan Beaumont, Policy and Research Intern at the Centre, has taken part in our 'I would give up...' challenge, arguing that the term 'criminal justice system' should be replaced with the 'criminal industrial complex'. Centre Director, Richard Garside, provides a round up of Justice Matters activities this month and reflects on how the initiative will be taken forward.

Protecting children: courage needed
The investigations into the actions of Jimmy Savile have prompted anxious reflections about the protection of children in institutions, the Centre's Research Director Dr Roger Grimshaw writes. He argues that beyond individual inquiries, what is needed is an all-embracing policy initiative, based on governmental commitment and political courage to develop comprehensive solutions.

Picturing injustice
Professor Eamonn Carabine of the University of Essex spoke about the power of images in shaping our understanding of harm, suffering and violence at an event at the Centre this month. The talk was based on his prize winning British Journal of Criminology article. Eamonn also wrote a short comment piece for our website. For further reading you might also want to check out the Criminal Justice Matters issue on Visual Criminology from 2009 as well as this month's Theoretical Criminology (subscription required).

If prison doesn't work, then what does?
Arianna Silvestri and Roger Grimshaw attended Penal Reform International's 25th anniversary event. The organisation works in various regions of the world (including Central Asia and the Middle East) to promote local solutions, improvements and alternatives in and to criminal justice. The event was in the form of a panel discussion on the thought provoking question: 'If prison doesn’t work, what does?'.

HAVE YOU SEEN?

Ganging up
Following on from the 'Race/gang nexus' event last month, Patrick Williams of Manchester Metropolitan University writes about his research, which demonstrates that police in Manchester are disproportionately, and wrongly, identifying young black, asian and minority ethnic people as 'gang' members.

Want to know what G4S is up to? Then become a shareholder
Our friends at the Reclaim Justice Network are inviting people to join them in questioning the G4S board about the company's role in the UK criminal justice system. They will be attending the G4S AGM on Thursday 5 of June at 2pm at the Excel Centre in London’s docklands. You can get a free share by e-mailing reclaimjustice@gmail.com and providing your full name and address. There are only ten shares left so get a move on if you want to be involved. You can find out more about network here.

Getting away with murder
Dr David Whyte of Liverpool University writes on the scale and impact of violence in the lead up to our 'How violent is Britain' conference on 16 May. He draws attention to hidden death and physical harm inflicted by the military industrial complex and corporate violence. Professor Barry Goldson, who will also be speaking at the conference, highlights poor conditions in HMYOI Brinsford, recently reported by Inspectors, and argues that we must do more to protect children in prison. 

EVENTFUL

How violent is Britain?
The 'How violent is Britain?' conference will be held on Friday 16 May 2014, so this is your last chance to book your place to hear a stellar line up of speakers to discuss how state, institutional and corporate violence should be tackled. It will take place at the University of Liverpool - £20 for waged and £5 for low income. If you are in the area the evening before, the Reclaim Justice Network will also be holding an event on shrinking the criminal justice system.

Suspicious minds
Professor Belinda Carpenter of Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, will present research on the coroners court system in Australia, in particular how it affects families of victims who are from overwhelmingly vulnerable and marginalised populations. Organised in partnership with INQUEST, the event, will be held on Tuesday 15 July 2014 at the Centre. For more information and to book, just visit the event page.

Policing, prisons and probation
Our Director Richard Garside will be speaking at an event organised by People's Parliament on current and future agendas in policing, prisons and probation. Speakers include Stephen Farrall (Sheffield University) and Joshua Skoczylis (University of Lincoln) with John McDonnell MP chairing. It will take place on Wednesday 21 May 2014 at the House of Commons. Find out more here.

TAKE A LOOK AT THIS

Riots as political protest?
The May 2014 issue of the British Journal of Criminology is available. Sadiya Akram's article 'Recognising the 2011 riots as political protest' is available to download free. Also in this issue, Ricardelli and Spencer explore how people convicted of sexual offences seek to 'pass' as non sex offenders and the methods used by staff and other prisoners to expose them. Backman, Estrada, Nilsson and Shannon make the case for staggered birth cohort studies and consider how societal changes may impact on life chances.

Believing in someone
Mike Guilfoyle, writing for Works for Freedom, comments on legislative changes in the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 and discusses Trevor, a former client of his. Trevor was given additional supervision, which he says acted as a spur for him to 'sort himself out', a process which lead to the early revocation of the order and his apparent rehabilitation.

Time to recover
Eva Roussou, from Together, reflects on the recent visit to the UK by tramua expert Stephanie Covington, which she hails as 'brilliant and thought-provoking' on the Works for Freedom website

Justice denied
The UN special rapporteur on violence against women, Rashida Manjoo, was denied entry to Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre to monitor conditions, reported The Independent. She said that violence against women remains a 'pervasive challenge' and she is concerned 'by legal and policy responses that are often limited to some harmful practices, such as early/forced marriages of young women and girls, or female genital mutilation, while ignoring all the harms emanating due to a sexist culture that exists in the country; and which impacts all women and girls'.

NUMBERS OF THE MONTH

37% - the amount of police funding that comes from the Home Office, with 23% coming from Council Tax according to a parliamentary briefing note.

158 years - how long it would take for the average worker on £27,000 to earn what a FTSE 100 CEO makes in a year, according to Inequality Briefing.

£135,552.57 - the fine issued to G4S for not hitting targets set out in prison management contracts with the Government.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

'Jesus invented the Big Society 2,000 years ago... I just want to see more of it.'

Prime Minister David Cameron claiming divine inspiration was at work when drafting the key concept behind Conservative Party policy. The Christian spirit did not end there for the Prime Minister who later called for Britain to be unashamedly 'evangelical' and described it as a Christian country.

While the Prime Minister was 'doing God', The Independent was just one of a number of papers to report that the Bishop of Oxford was turned away from Mr Cameron's constituency office when he tried to deliver a letter on poverty. Commenting on this apparent stonewalling the Bishop, the Rt Revd John Pritchard, said:

'It is deeply ironic, to say the least, that on the same day David Cameron was writing in the Church Times talking about what a good Anglican he is, he was wasn’t able to receive his own bishop in his constituency office. I think this speaks volumes.'

TWEET OF THE MONTH

#myNYPD

The New York Police Dept Twitter feed was deluged with images of police brutality after an invitation to the public to tweet positive pictures of themselves with police backfired.

This bulletin is compiled and edited by Jordan Beaumont and Rebecca Roberts. For comments and feedback email rebecca.roberts@crimeandjustice.org.uk.