Prisons | Centre for Crime and Justice Studies

News

25 days in April: Part 2 Strangeways podcast out now

Listen to the second part of our two-part podcast produced by National Prison Radio on the Strangeways protests and the past, present and future of prisons.

Part two examines the legacy of the Strangeways protests and the role of prisons and imprisonment since. Produced by National Prison Radio and with support from the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust, the podcasts situate the protests within the wider context of the state of prisons in the...

Comment

Pressured times call for emergency measures in Scotland's prisons

The months of March and April felt like an eternity as the world was changed by COVID-19, and justice authorities grappled with how to deal with the issues in prisons.

News

Prisons and the COVID-19 crisis webinar

Last weekend, our Director Richard Garside participated in an online panel discussion on prisons during the current pandemic.

Chaired by John Rees, other panellists were criminologist and former prison monitor, Faith Spear and Steve Gillan, General Secretary of the Prison Officers' Association.

Watch the full session here.

News

Cases of coronavirus in prisons: England and Wales

Coronavirus cases continue to spread among prisoners and prisons in England and Wales.

Comment

Punishment is the pandemic

Over recent weeks there have been several calls for people in prison and detention centres to be released, largely framed as a ‘public health’ response and a way of keeping whole communities safe.

Comment

The relentless march of coronavirus across prisons

Following lockdowns and social distancing, some encouraging signs of the beginnings of a slowdown in the spread of COVID-19.

Comment

Tracking European jurisdictions’ preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19 in prisons

Over the last few days we’ve finalised and sent out a survey to European partner organisations as part of our brand new project tracking official responses to COVID-19 in European prisons.

Comment

Coronavirus: Early release of prisoners

The announcement of early releases from prisons in England and Wales is a welcome sign that the seriousness of the COVID-19 infection risk is being acknowledged, though how far, and how thoroughly, is still open to question.

Comment

Coronavirus: empty the prisons, redevelop the land for the benefit of local communities

Today we heard the news of the first prisoner to die after testing positive for coronavirus. It was sadly not unexpected.

Comment

The worst place in the world

Before the Strangeways protests, children were incarcerated with adults.

Comment

Prison officer violence: The crisis of visibility

In recent times there have been increasing calls for zero tolerance of physical violence in prisons in the UK.

Project

Short prison sentencing

This project aims to identify the options, impacts and issues for impactful sentencing reform intended to reduce the use of short prison sentences.

There has been a lot of recent interest in this policy area. Last year, Scotland extended its presumption against short prison sentences. In England and Wales, plans to restrict sentencers' access to short term imprisonment were mooted but failed to progress. The case for reform has been made on...