Showing papers in "Howard Journal of Criminal Justice in 2010"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the challenges faced by the researchers whilst conducting fieldwork with convicted sexual offenders in the prison environment and how they overcame them, such obstacles included the recruitment of participants, informed consent, establishing researcher-participant rapport, avoiding collusion and ensuring confidentiality and anonymity.
Abstract: There is a paucity of literature focusing on the challenges involved in undertaking qualitative research with convicted sexual offenders. This article will address the challenges faced by the researchers whilst conducting fieldwork with convicted sexual offenders in the prison environment and how they overcame them. Such obstacles included the recruitment of participants, informed consent, establishing researcher-participant rapport, avoiding collusion and ensuring confidentiality and anonymity. This article
further reflects on the social, political and ethical-legal dilemmas, as well as the emotional aspects (both for the researcher and participant) of researching such populations.
Although the focus here is on researching sexual offenders in prison, the experiences will no doubt have resonance for those undertaking research with other vulnerable populations.
52 citations
52 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the effects of organisational structure on emotional burnout among correctional staff at a state-run prison, and found that supervisory status, degree of inmate contact, promotional opportunity, formalization, instrumental communication, and input into decision making all had statistically significant associations with emotional burn out.
Abstract: In any nation, correctional staff are the greatest asset of any correctional facility. In an era where rising costs, shrinking budgets, and personnel shortages are common, it is increasingly important to provide a positive work environment to ensure worker stability. The research indicates that job burnout is a negative response that is influenced by the work environment. This study examined the effects of organisational structure on emotional burnout among correctional staff at a state-run prison. Promotional opportunity, integration, formalisation, instrumental communication, and input into decision making are the major forms of organisational structure. In addition to the above forms of organisational structure, the amount of daily contact and the personal characteristics of tenure, position, educational level, race, age, gender, and supervisory status were included as independent variables. In a multivariate analysis, supervisory status, degree of inmate contact, promotional opportunity, formalisation, instrumental communication, and input into decision making all had statistically significant associations with emotional burnout. The results support the postulation that organisational structure influences the emotional burnout of correctional staff.
52 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the thought processes that practitioners follow when they are conducting risk assessments and found that practitioners are more likely to override actuarial information that indicates a low risk of harm rather than a high one, confirming the existence of the precautionary principle.
Abstract: The aim of this research was to examine the thought processes that practitioners follow when they are conducting risk assessments. Weighing up the probability that an individual will inflict harm requires the practitioner to apply clinical and actuarial approaches, and integrate static and dynamic information. This is a complex and inexact task, and one that has been found lacking in reviews of serious further offences. This research focused on a small, atypical subgroup of risk assessments; those where the actuarial information is at odds with the clinical judgment. The results indicated that practitioners are more likely to override actuarial information that indicates a low risk of harm rather than a high one, confirming the existence of the ‘precautionary principle’. The research also produced some important messages for practice, particularly a reluctance to reduce sexual offenders' risk of harm even when evidence of all types was compelling, and conversely, a willingness to reduce non‐sexual offenders' risk on the basis of only flimsy dynamic evidence, and counter to actuarial pointers. The research concludes that a more sophisticated understanding of the evidence around dynamic factors would enhance assessments.
38 citations
30 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the role of interventions delivered to prisoners that do not fit within the categories of psychology, education or training (for example, pastimes such as visual and performance arts, meditation and yoga), and map an alternative terrain to traditional concepts of rehabilitation and treatment.
Abstract: Artistic and spiritual activities should be considered as important elements in varied and diverse responses to offenders' needs: they value humanity and seek well-being. This article examines the role of interventions delivered to prisoners that do not fit within the categories of psychology, education or training (for example, pastimes such as visual and performance arts, meditation and yoga), and maps an alternative terrain to traditional concepts of rehabilitation and treatment. Whilst acknowledging the need to evidence effectiveness in order to satisfy policy makers, victims, and the wider public, we explore the constraints of quantifying the impact of these activities.
29 citations
TL;DR: It is shown that overcrowding is a factor exacerbating the risk of suicide among female prisoners and the need to explore this link is highlighted especially at a time when overcrowding and suicide in prisons are high.
Abstract: This article reveals the main contributory factors to suicide among female prisoners and shows that overcrowding is a factor exacerbating the risk of suicide. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten female prisoners in one closed prison in 2007. They focused on incidents of self-harm and attempted suicide revealing the negative impact of the prison experience and, in particular, the effect of overcrowding. There are few studies looking at the link between overcrowding and suicide. This study highlights the need to explore this link especially at a time when overcrowding and suicide in prisons are high.
27 citations
TL;DR: This article describes how the Head of Psychology at Grendon, along with a group ofGrendon prisoners, have set about distilling aspects of the Grendan regime with a view to exporting them to HMP Isle of Wight.
Abstract: Early in 2009, the newly appointed Director of Offender Management, South-East Region, asked the Governor of Grendon to lead a flagship project to improve the quality of prisoner-staff relationships in the region's prisons. A recent HM Chief Inspector's report on Parkhurst had been highly critical, while Grendon has been repeatedly praised by HM Chief Inspector for its outstanding and excellent prisoner-staff relationships. The flagship project, now an innovation project, encompasses a wide range of initiatives throughout the South-East Region, one of which seeks to identify aspects of the Grendon regime which could be distilled and transferred to other prisons in order to assist in improving prisoner engagement and interactions with staff. This article describes how the Head of Psychology at Grendon, along with a group of Grendon prisoners, have set about distilling aspects of the Grendon regime with a view to exporting them to HMP Isle of Wight. This work forms part of a developing link between the two prisons.
23 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between penal and therapeutic functions had evolved over the intervening 20 years, a period marked by considerable change in the wider penal landscape, and how these broader transformations in penal policy have been negotiated within the institution and what their impact has been on the ability of the TCs to maintain their authority, legitimacy and therapeutic integrity.
Abstract: Twenty years ago we conducted an ethnographic study of Grendon in which we examined the incongruous cohabitation of a prison and a therapeutic community (TC) within a single establishment. We concluded that the partnership between the two institutions was inevitably unequal and that, whilst the prison allowed the TC a sphere of influence, penal power prevailed whenever its institutional interests were threatened. In 2010 we revisited the establishment to explore how the relationship between penal and therapeutic functions had evolved over the intervening 20 years, a period marked by considerable change in the wider penal landscape. This article considers how these broader transformations in penal policy have been negotiated within the institution and what their impact has been on the ability of the TCs to maintain their authority, legitimacy and therapeutic integrity. We conclude with some preliminary thoughts about the protection of therapeutic work in prisons and the devolution of power and responsibility across government departments for therapeutic opportunities and the sentence management of serious offenders.
23 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore developments in practice within therapeutic communities (TCs) from the early ideas which informed socially-driven treatments to the more recent approaches which have emerged alongside current developments in forensic psychology and criminological research.
Abstract: This article will explore developments in practice within therapeutic communities (TCs) from the early ideas which informed socially-driven treatments to the more recent approaches which have emerged alongside current developments in forensic psychology and criminological research. It will focus on how the role of TCs has been forced to evolve and refine itself and explore why, despite their developing role as a forensic intervention, the potential of TCs to inform and contribute to wider forensic and penal practice has not been fully recognised. The strength of their research base will also be assessed and the accusation that a lack of quality research continues to present a significant obstacle to the wider credibility of TCs will be considered. Whilst TCs have prided themselves with protecting and preserving their origins and clinical traditions, misleading associations continue to be drawn between modern TCs and the unorthodox and maverick practices of 1960s TC approaches. Their attempts to counter these charges, which have enabled their critics to dismiss them as being unscientific, invalidated and largely irrelevant to offender risk reduction, will be explored.
19 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the applicability of need and risk assessments to female offenders is examined, with a focus on the criminogenic needs of women, the context of their lives, and their pathways into crime.
Abstract: This article provides a critical examination of the applicability of need and risk assessments to female offenders. Recent research has suggested that ‘gender-informed’ measures are likely to be a more valid tool than existing methods when classifying offender need and risk. The author suggests that a serious evaluation of how we assess the need and risk of women incarcerated in England and Wales is needed, with focus on the criminogenic needs of women, the context of their lives, and their pathways into crime. While an entirely new method of assessment focused on women may be required, it seems equally likely that a more simple ‘reweighting’ of existing methods such as the Offender Assessment System (OASys) may be sufficient – focused on both gender-mutual and female-specific needs.
TL;DR: The authors argue that the police and probation services exhibit tensions in their relations with the community: in policing, in the relation between centralised targets and community needs, and in probation in the role of the community in the process of rehabilitation and desistance.
Abstract: The police and probation services are agencies that have traditionally had close relations with the communities in which they work. Both agencies exhibit tensions in their relations with the community: in policing, in the relation between centralised targets and community needs, and in probation in the role of the community in the process of rehabilitation and desistance. We argue that these tensions mirror deeper contradictions within current urban and social policy concerning the role envisaged for community in the process of urban renewal.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the introduction of uniforms will be counterproductive on a number of levels and conclude with a suggestion on how to increase the visibility of unpaid work by offenders within the community, without the negative impact of uniforms.
Abstract: The Labour government has recently introduced uniforms for adult offenders undertaking community service as part of their community orders. There have also been calls within the youth justice arena to introduce uniforms to young offenders undertaking reparation. Through observations, interviews and questionnaires with young offenders and their supervising staff, we argue that the introduction of uniforms will be counterproductive on a number of levels. In short, it would be a retrograde step. We conclude with a suggestion on how to increase the visibility of unpaid work by offenders within the community, without the negative impact of uniforms.
TL;DR: The most prominent police frame attributed the problem of gun violence in Toronto to the proliferation of gangs, illegal gun smuggling and illicit drug trafficking, and structural factors such as poverty and unemployment, disintegrated neighbourhoods and families, and a faulty legal system as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: This article discusses the ways in which the Toronto Police Service has constructed the problem of gun violence in the city. This violence is commonly associated in the media with young black males. The data for the study derived from semi-structured interviews with police officers and secondary sources, including police public statements, press releases, and official documents. The most prominent police frame attributed the problem of gun violence in Toronto to the proliferation of gangs, illegal gun smuggling and illicit drug trafficking. Other frames, to a lesser degree, blamed structural factors such as poverty and unemployment, disintegrated neighbourhoods and families, and a faulty legal system.
TL;DR: The authors examines the TV series Banged Up and media reactions to it and argues that it served a wider public service purpose, or public criminology, than simply entertainment, and explores a number of other "experiments" and the crossover between those and reality TV.
Abstract: This article examines the TV series Banged Up and media reactions to it. In doing so it seeks to argue that it served a wider public service purpose, or public criminology, than simply entertainment. A number of other ‘experiments’ and the crossover between those and reality TV are also explored. The series was not universally admired and no attempt is made to hide this. In addition to engaging with theoretical matters the experience of one of the authors of being part of the programme is set out. (Authors' abstract)
TL;DR: In this paper, the development and interpretation of risk are placed in the context of Grendon's history and relationship to the prison service of England and Wales, and prisoner and staff responses to risk assessment are described.
Abstract: Drawing on a focused ethnographic study at HMP Grendon, this article examines how the notion of ‘risk’ enters into therapeutic community (TC) practice. The development and interpretation of risk are placed in the context of Grendon's history and relationship to the prison service of England and Wales, and prisoner and staff responses to risk assessment are described. Comparison with the ‘dead end’ of risk avoidance in the US supermax model leads to the suggestion that at Grendon the category of risk itself undergoes change as a result of the TC's unique relationship to prison culture.
TL;DR: The UK Home Office has announced (December 2009) a new policy to publicise the criminal court judgments on individual offenders to the local communities in which those offenders live as discussed by the authors, which is based on earlier experiences of making offenders more visible to the communities from which they come.
Abstract: The UK Home Office has announced (December 2009) a new policy to publicise the criminal court judgments on individual offenders to the local communities in which those offenders live. The Home Office believes that this is public information obtained fairly from the public forum of the criminal court and that such publicising is merely boosting the job previously carried out by local reporters and newspapers covering the local criminal court. The initiative follows the Casey (2008) report that sought to find ways to reassure the general public on matters of confidence in the criminal justice system. This article considers how this initiative might work in practice based on earlier experiences of making offenders more visible to the communities from which they come.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore some of the legal and organisational challenges facing the various agencies involved in the delivery of criminal justice, in the UK, in adhering to the Equality Act 2006, Equality Duties and the forthcoming Single Equality Act (which, proposes a Single Equality Duty).
Abstract: This article will explore some of the legal and organisational challenges facing the various agencies involved in the delivery of criminal justice, in the UK, in adhering to the Equality Act 2006, Equality Duties and the forthcoming Single Equality Act (which, proposes a Single Equality Duty). We will consider the impact of these changes with reference to European legislation. Of particular interest will be the themes of effective implementation of the current Duties, equality of access and equality of outcome for both victims and offenders to appropriate services to tackle offending behaviour and the prevention of crime. This article will highlight issues surrounding impact assessment and the role of agency discretion and regulation. We offer some comments on future directions and the role of the regulatory bodies including the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
TL;DR: In this article, the authors brought together published and unpublished material that documents prisoners' experiences of Grendon in their words, including the pre-admission procedure, reasons for applying, reception process and life on the assessment and induction unit.
Abstract: This article brings together published and unpublished material that documents prisoners' experiences of Grendon in their words. This covers the period from shortly after Grendon opened in 1962 to the present day. Issues to be looked at are the pre-admission procedure, reasons for applying to Grendon, the reception process and life on the assessment and induction unit. The challenges of living on the main therapeutic communities (TCs) will be described. How staff relationships at Grendon differ from those in other establishments will be explained. Also described will be the experiences of those who did not transfer onto one of the five main TCs within Grendon as well as those who found that Grendon was not for them. What is apparent throughout is the similarity of prisoner experiences from the time Grendon opened until the present day.
TL;DR: This paper examined four British films (I Believe in You, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, A Sense of Freedom, and McVicar) and found that individual change is an incremental, often imperceptible, process of increasing self-awareness, motivation and self-challenge.
Abstract: Violent crime is one of the great subjects of world cinema; and oblique appeals for social reform – especially, for example, vis-a-vis capital punishment – also play a role in countless scores of films. However, explicit studies on the nature of self-reform and the professional social services which might help effect it are few and far between. While still keeping an eye on the broader international context, in this article we examine four British films – I Believe in You; The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner; A Sense of Freedom; and McVicar – each of which is notable for the unusual directness of its comments on how people deal with the problems of rehabilitation and desistance. Only one film dramatises formalised social work intervention, but they all reflect what might be described as a natural process of rehabilitation aided by the influence of significant others and all touch on psychological theories about causation and cure. Apart from The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, which is a forensic, if fictional, account of how reform programmes go wrong, these films show very clearly that individual change is an incremental, often imperceptible, process of increasing self-awareness, motivation and self-challenge. They also show that, while this process can be helped along by professional intervention, it is often dependent on the accruing of social capital and movement through stages of life familiar to us all. In this context, we argue that, despite the limited attention given by British film to the subject of rehabilitation, it has nevertheless produced some surprisingly accurate reflections of how desistance works.
TL;DR: In this paper, it was found that magistrates who remanded the defendant into custody, judged the mean risks of the defendant absconding, offending on bail, and obstructing justice to be significantly greater than did those who bailed the defendant.
Abstract: The main goal was to capture how decision makers interpret the phrase ‘substantial grounds’ for denying bail stated in the Bail Act 1976. It was found that magistrates who remanded the defendant into custody, judged the mean risks of the defendant absconding, offending on bail, and obstructing justice to be significantly greater than did those who bailed the defendant. Thus, the mean interpretation of ‘substantial grounds’ across magistrates was from 46% to 51% (on a 0% to 100% scale). However, there was great variability across magistrates. We discuss the implications of the present findings for encouraging consistent, transparent and justifiable interpretations of bail law.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present statistics on remand in custody in England and Wales and review a number of strategies designed to reduce the remand population in this jurisdiction, concluding that remand decisions to remand are not a major contribution to prison overcrowding.
Abstract: This article present statistics on remand in custody in England and Wales. Currently, these statistics are spread across a wide range of government statistical publications, making it challenging to determine trends. We demonstrate that decisions to remand in custody are not a major contribution to prison overcrowding. However, it is important from perspectives both of human rights and economy to keep trends under close review, and to search for better ways of reducing the remand population in prisons. At the end of the article we review a number of strategies designed to reduce the remand population in this jurisdiction.
TL;DR: In this paper, a critical analysis of three recent British police memoirs is presented, focusing on how the police memoir has changed over time, and specifically how these recent memoirs differ from the 'up from the streets' autobiographies of the past.
Abstract: Using a critical analysis of three recent British police memoirs this article considers some aspects of how the police memoir has changed over time, and specifically how these recent memoirs differ from the ‘up from the streets’ autobiographies of the past. The article uses this critical analysis to pursue further the idea of cop culture.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the current debate between policy makers and independent inspectors concerning the use of the terms "harm" and "serious harm" to illustrate how linguistic confusion can hinder practice.
Abstract: Issues of risk and public protection are currently a critical, and politically sensitive, area of practice for probation and youth justice services in England and Wales. The language of public protection shapes practice in significant ways, yet this use of terminology is an issue which has received relatively little attention. This article examines the current debate between policy makers and independent inspectors concerning the use of the terms ‘harm’ and ‘serious harm’ to illustrate how linguistic confusion can hinder practice. The article concludes with suggestions for an alternative vocabulary that could bring greater clarity to risk assessment and risk management processes.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the enforcement of confiscation orders, a relatively poorly understood financial penalty, and argued that enforcement is the result of an interaction of factors which include the initial decision making of police officers, financial investigators and prosecutors; the accuracy of information about offenders' financial affairs; enforcement powers, intelligence and operational support; and, the behaviour and attitudes of the offender.
Abstract: Financial penalties are the most widely used sentence in England and Wales, but present difficulties for enforcement. This article examines the enforcement of confiscation orders – a relatively poorly understood financial penalty. Drawing on interviews with actors in the confiscation order process this article examines the processes through which confiscation orders are enforced. It is argued that enforcement is the result of an interaction of factors which include the initial decision making of police officers, financial investigators and prosecutors; the accuracy of information about offenders' financial affairs; enforcement powers, intelligence and operational support; and, the behaviour and attitudes of the offender.
TL;DR: Results show that guards hold very favourable attitudes towards the prevention of forced sexual contacts between inmates, but they are more ambiguous concerning consensual sexuality.
Abstract: This article presents the main findings of an innovative Portuguese research project on prison guards' attitudes towards the prevention of sexual contacts between inmates. Sexuality in prisons is still a poorly-studied issue, although its increasing visibility demands a better understanding of prison dynamics. Results show that guards hold very favourable attitudes towards the prevention of forced sexual contacts between inmates, but they are more ambiguous concerning consensual sexuality. This result is influenced by the characteristics of the inmates under the guards' supervision and by the prison guards' knowledge of the existence of sexual contacts between inmates. The results will be discussed, along with their impact on the development of training programmes and policies regarding sexual contacts between inmates.