Continuing with an Irish theme, I notice the Letter of the Day in the Irish Times has some very familiar messages from many in the criminal justice system there:-
Plan for prison expansion is a bad ideaPenal policies that rely on imprisonment will either have no effect or make us less safe
Sir,
Sir,
We are members of Ireland’s criminology, political, and advocacy communities with deep knowledge of the Irish criminal justice system, and the research that shows how government can use penal and social policy in smart and equitable ways to keep all of society safe. We are deeply concerned with prison overcrowding, increases in the rate of imprisonment, and recent policy announcements to drastically increase the capacity of existing prisons.
Contrary to what is often assumed and the rhetoric we see in public debates, imprisonment is not an effective way of preventing or reducing crime. Research has demonstrated that sending someone to prison does not reduce their likelihood of reoffending, but can actually increase it. In addition, increasing sentence severity does not lead to more deterrence. Prison causes harm and fails to address the causes of offending or prepare people to reintegrate into society. Penal policies that rely on imprisonment will either have no effect or make us less safe.
It is true that prison overcrowding contributes to a situation in which Irish prisons are unsafe places to live or work and must be addressed. However, there are other ways to do this. For example, it is time for Ireland to move on from its addiction to short prison sentences. Of the 7,043 people committed to prison in 2022, 3,046 had received a sentence under 12 months.
For those receiving such a sentence for the first time, this is long enough to destroy their social and economic bonds (housing, employment or family), but not long enough for them to access any supportive services. For those who have been to prison before, clearly it is not helping them to solve the problems in their lives that represent barriers to desistance from crime.
The State’s own commissioned report on reoffending demonstrates how to reduce offending: by providing employment opportunities and drug treatment, ensuring treatment by justice actors is procedurally fair, and using community justice instead of prison sentences. Indeed, government policy is for prison only to be used as a last resort and community sanctions to be expanded.
At the same time, resolving offences outside of court wherever possible is shown to reduce crime more effectively than prosecution. This may be counterintuitive for some, but this is why lawmakers must engage seriously and consistently with research evidence.
The Probation Service also commissioned an evidence-based report on developing community service which calls for a desistance-informed approach, the development of restorative justice, and the use of social and economic policy levers. Yet, the Probation Service’s budget increased by just €2 million in 2023, a far cry from the €49.5 million now being allocated to prison expansion.
Laws must change to provide greater incentives for judges to sentence in an evidence-based way.
Beyond community justice, if there is money for criminal justice, it is shameful not to invest this in our woefully underfunded victim support, restorative justice, social, youth and community work, addiction and poverty reduction sectors. While tens of millions of euro are easily thrown into failed approaches of the past, some of our most important victim and community services can count their staff on one hand.
A Government that is serious about helping victims and communities would invest in the services that we know will meet their needs. Penal policy is a social and political choice. Increases in imprisonment are not inevitable as is often implied. Demographic changes do not make prisons a good substitute for the social work, housing and mental health services that they are so often used to replace.
Increasing prison capacity by over 15 per cent will be difficult to reverse in the future, consigning numbers to record high levels for decades to come. As in any other public policy area, we should be phasing out, not expanding, our outdated, unsafe infrastructure.
We believe that every person must have the opportunity to achieve their potential to contribute to our society. Smart investment that learns from our successes and mistakes is the only way to move our country forward.
The time is now for an evidence-led approach to criminal justice.
Contrary to what is often assumed and the rhetoric we see in public debates, imprisonment is not an effective way of preventing or reducing crime. Research has demonstrated that sending someone to prison does not reduce their likelihood of reoffending, but can actually increase it. In addition, increasing sentence severity does not lead to more deterrence. Prison causes harm and fails to address the causes of offending or prepare people to reintegrate into society. Penal policies that rely on imprisonment will either have no effect or make us less safe.
It is true that prison overcrowding contributes to a situation in which Irish prisons are unsafe places to live or work and must be addressed. However, there are other ways to do this. For example, it is time for Ireland to move on from its addiction to short prison sentences. Of the 7,043 people committed to prison in 2022, 3,046 had received a sentence under 12 months.
For those receiving such a sentence for the first time, this is long enough to destroy their social and economic bonds (housing, employment or family), but not long enough for them to access any supportive services. For those who have been to prison before, clearly it is not helping them to solve the problems in their lives that represent barriers to desistance from crime.
The State’s own commissioned report on reoffending demonstrates how to reduce offending: by providing employment opportunities and drug treatment, ensuring treatment by justice actors is procedurally fair, and using community justice instead of prison sentences. Indeed, government policy is for prison only to be used as a last resort and community sanctions to be expanded.
At the same time, resolving offences outside of court wherever possible is shown to reduce crime more effectively than prosecution. This may be counterintuitive for some, but this is why lawmakers must engage seriously and consistently with research evidence.
The Probation Service also commissioned an evidence-based report on developing community service which calls for a desistance-informed approach, the development of restorative justice, and the use of social and economic policy levers. Yet, the Probation Service’s budget increased by just €2 million in 2023, a far cry from the €49.5 million now being allocated to prison expansion.
Laws must change to provide greater incentives for judges to sentence in an evidence-based way.
Beyond community justice, if there is money for criminal justice, it is shameful not to invest this in our woefully underfunded victim support, restorative justice, social, youth and community work, addiction and poverty reduction sectors. While tens of millions of euro are easily thrown into failed approaches of the past, some of our most important victim and community services can count their staff on one hand.
A Government that is serious about helping victims and communities would invest in the services that we know will meet their needs. Penal policy is a social and political choice. Increases in imprisonment are not inevitable as is often implied. Demographic changes do not make prisons a good substitute for the social work, housing and mental health services that they are so often used to replace.
Increasing prison capacity by over 15 per cent will be difficult to reverse in the future, consigning numbers to record high levels for decades to come. As in any other public policy area, we should be phasing out, not expanding, our outdated, unsafe infrastructure.
We believe that every person must have the opportunity to achieve their potential to contribute to our society. Smart investment that learns from our successes and mistakes is the only way to move our country forward.
The time is now for an evidence-led approach to criminal justice.
Yours, etc,
Dr IAN MARDER,
Assistant Professor in Criminology,
Dr IAN MARDER,
Assistant Professor in Criminology,
School of Law and Criminology,
Maynooth
Maynooth
(and loads of other signatories)
Good plan! Evidence based practice rather than (discredited) ideology and bigotry based practice...
ReplyDelete“The Probation Service also commissioned an evidence-based report on developing community service which calls for a desistance-informed approach, the development of restorative justice, and the use of social and economic policy levers.”
ReplyDeleteWow. Probation challenges the state. This would be unheard of in England and Wales. We used to do this type of thing before we were owned by the civil service, prison service and HMPPS.