Women veterans in prison

This new research is based primarily on interviews with 30 women veterans aged between 38 and 67 years old. The women interviewed for this research had very different experiences of service life. Some found military service to have been a very positive experience and their difficulties only started when they left,… A new report from Salute Her UK and Forward Assists shines a light on the hitherto hidden population of women veterans in contact with the criminal justice system. ...

Dispelling common myths around domestic abuse in the UK

Domestic abuse is a pervasive problem in the UK, with an estimated 1.6 million women and 786,000 men experiencing domestic abuse in the past year alone[1]. Unfortunately, there are many myths surrounding domestic abuse that can prevent victims from seeking help or getting the support they need. Here are common… Anjum Mouj continues a series of articles on domestic abuse by looking at more than 20 common myths about the issue ...

Living (and dying) as an older person in prison

A report from the Nuffield Trust “Living (and dying) as an older person in prison” sets out to understand the biggest health care challenges for our ageing prisoner population. The report analyses admitted patient care data and outpatient data from 2019/20 to examine how people in prison aged 50 or… The number of older people in prison has grown disproportionately over recent years according to a report from the Nuffield Trust...

Detention in the UK 'a mixed bag'

The National Preventive Mechanism is the network of independent bodies that have responsibility for preventing ill-treatment in detention. In every jurisdiction of the UK –Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales – the bodies in this network have the job of inspecting or monitoring every place of detention with the aim of… The UK’s National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) published its 13th annual report (covering the financial year 2021/22) in which it describes the crises of staffing, under-funding and slow COVID recovery ...

Maximum security prisons have 'fundamentally lost their way'

Most weeks His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons publishes reports on the state of individual prisons across England and Wales. Since the pandemic, almost all of these inspections have been severely critical of the standard of care provided to people incarcerated. Chronic staff shortages are the main (but certainly not the… Two inspection reports into the Long Lartin and Whitemoor maximum security prisons plumb new lows....

Most prisoners still locked up at weekends says HMIP report

Today’s (5 April 2023) report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation into weekends in prison says that purposeful activity in prisons – that is access to education, employment, exercise or time out of cell to take part in meaningful activity – has never been as bad as it is now,… The inspectors found that the high levels of lock-up reported during the week continue in the weekend and, in most cases, were much worse....

The pros and cons of pre-recorded cross examination

Section 28 (s.28) of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act (YJCEA) 1999 allowed eligible witnesses to pre-record their cross-examination or re-examination before the trial. It was intended that the s.28 recording can be presented during the trial without the witness needing to attend and experience fear or distress about… The Ministry of Justice has today published new research evaluating the use of pre-recorded cross examination (Section 28) for intimidated witnesses....

Procedural justice In probation

The importance of perceptions of procedural justice (PJ) has been well documented in court, policing and prison settings as influencing a multitude of relevant outcomes, including cooperation and compliance with the law, rules and instructions, psychological wellbeing, and recidivism. PJ research in probation settings is, however, still in its infancy.… One of the most heartening findings was that people at the start of their probation period had poorer perceptions than those who were further along,...

Remote hearings have 'no impacts on wider justice outcomes'

Remote hearings have little impact on either the efficiency or the effectiveness of sittings, a new evaluation by the Ministry of Justice has found. Remote participation in court hearings has been an option for years – however, out of necessity, it was during the pandemic that courts saw a rapid… A Ministry of Justice report into the impact of remote hearings on duration and outcomes has found little meaningful differences either in efficiency or effectiveness compared with in-person hearings. ...

An analysis of escalation in the severity of offending behaviour

The study was commissioned to inform risk assessment and management guidance for prison and probation practitioners, and contribute to the future development of actuarial predictors of serious reoffending risk. It revisited a 2002 study on escalation to serious offending to investigate, in an individual’s criminal history, which offences are found… A new study published by the Ministry of Justice identifies the previous offences that were more frequently committed by criminals who ‘escalated’ to very serious offending....