In 2008, the British criminal justice system was failing by many measures. Costs were rising as was the prison population. The sheer pressure on the system made it hard to introduce long overdue reforms. As a result recidivism rates remained high and public confidence remained low.
This paper makes the case for managed evolution towards a system that is much more effective at tailoring punishments and interventions to fit offenders’ characteristics, and that helps communities take more responsibility for their part of the system. It argues for changes that can go with the grain of public opinion but also help to educate the public about what works – so as to help escape from kneeâ€jerk reactions against reform.
It advocates wide-ranging systematic innovation to develop better models, and then scale them up, in particular in relation to skills, psychology, connections and opportunities for offenders, to be undertaken at all levels but particularly at the local authority level. The paper cites a number of examples of interventions which focus on early risk factors such as the work of the innovative In Tune project in Gloucestershire; interventions in the custodial setting such as the Barbed Design social enterprise in HMP Coldingley and work to manage risk post-release, such as the pioneering Canadian model of Circles of Support and Accountability. It discusses mechanisms such as Community Justice initiatives which can bolster public confidence in innovative interventions.
This paper suggests how a menu of such interventions can be made available to a locality, and presents an overview of those structures which could ensure that the system has capacity for this, as well as how to bolster public confidence in innovative approaches, and in a radically reformed system.
Criminal justice Systems change
Posted on: 1 March 2008