UK Prison system. CRIM102 Lancaster

UK Prison System

• Role of Prisons

• Court system and putting people in Prison

• Contemporary issues with modern prisons

• Probation

• Youth in Prison

• Effects of Prison on criminal careers and desistance

Role of Prisons

• Operation Context

  • 104 public sector prisons

  • 14 privately run prisons

  • Population - 82500

    • Male - 78700

    • Female - 3800

      • Operational capacity - 85000

• Types of prisons

  • High Security (Category A)

  • Closed Training Prison (Category B)

  • Closed Training Prison (Category C)

  • Resettlement Prison (Category C)

  • Open Prison (Category D)

  • Women’s:

    • Closed prison

    • Open prison

  • Immigration Removal Centre

  • Security Training Centre/Local Authority Secure Homes

  • Secure Mental Health Hospitals

• Prisons are designed to serve the courts and the public by delivering custodial sentences and providing a rehabilitative culture

• HMPPS Objectives

  • Protect the public

    • No escapes

    • Risk management on release

  • Reduce reoffending

    • Help offenders make positive changes

    • Desist on release

      • To do this must have a focus on:

        • Employment

          • Temporary release for work

        • Education

          • Prisons have low levels of education

          • New attempts to increase vocational training for prisoners

        • Accommodation

          • Often released prisoners will become homeless as they have no funds for accommodation

        • Attitudes/Values and Thinking Skills

        • Neurological factors

          • Trauma background can increase offending

        • Substance Misuse

          • Offend to gain access to drugs

          • Issues with addiction and drugs in prisons

        • Mental Health

        • Finance and Debt economic cycles

        • Relationships and Families

        • Maturity

        • Intergenerational Crime

          • Family influence can increase offending

          • Intergenerational offending

        • Criminological Theory

          • Martinson 1974 – Nothing Works –v- McGuire What Works Programmes)

          • Labelling Theory – Do prisons compound offending

          • Deterrence Theory - Do prisons deter

          • Rational Choice Theory

          • Desistance Theory – The Sheffield Desistance Study Bottoms/Shapland – a gradual process

          • Strain Theory Merton  - pressure from economic strain

• Prisons must be

  • Safe

  • Decent

  • Secure

  • Rehabilitative

• Rehabilitative culture triangle

• Prison Architecture

  • Prison as a mini-society

    • Routines and structures

    • Safeguarding/defusing conflict/violence

    • Healthcare & wellbeing

    • Work/Education/Training

    • Catering

    • Decent, humane conditions

  • What makes a good prison?

    • Morally well-performing regime

    • Clear leadership and sense of purpose

    • Treating prisoners with respect and humanity enabling redemption

    • Enabling transition to the community

    • Low distress levels amongst prisoners

      • (Liebling & Arnold 2004)

Court system and putting people in Prison

• Innocent until proven guilty

• Beyond all reasonable doubt

  • Must be certain that the person is guilty

  • Use of evidence only

• Sentencing must have a purpose

  • …