Get involved in new PbR interactive tool: Send in examples of PbR evaluations and research, particularly any “grey” material not publicly available; Express an interest in attending one of the consultation workshops or in piloting the tool.
Perhaps the main challenge for probation staff working with young adult offenders in the new CRCs will be to have sufficient time to develop a trusting relationship which underpins the best probation practice.
Whenever there is any public debate about rates of imprisonment, you can be fairly confident that the tabloid press will produce figures on how many crimes are committed by people on bail. But what are the real figures?
Professor McGuire makes it clear that conclusions can only be tentative given the small number of studies reviewed (there are many more research studies aimed at juvenile offenders, but far fewer targeted at the young adult age group). Nevertheless, there are some helpful critical success factors upon which to build more effective approaches:
Quite what so many short sentences (with prisoners spending a maximum of 13 weeks inside) achieve, given the disruption to the lives of women and their children, is very unclear to me.
Inspectors concluded that the MCTC was a model custodial institution. The contrast with their’ findings on the state of adult male and young offender institutions could hardly be more stark.
The current state of alcohol treatment The Recovery Partnership review of the current state of alcohol
In summary, few countries in Europe have chosen to adopt widespread rehabilitative approaches, with most opting for simpler policies of decriminalisation or depenalisation — alternatives to prison, but not alternatives to punishment. The policies that are adopted are often carried out without robust monitoring or evaluation; large numbers of drug users are diverted from the criminal justice system in many European countries without any systematic follow-up.
Young people’s choice of substances changes rapidly in response to fashion and availability (and price). It will be interesting to see whether the current generation of young drug users reduce their usage as they get older to the same extent as previous generations appear to have done.
It is hard to imagine a more critical report, but even more concerning was the inspectors’ conclusion that there was very little strategic leadership or expectation that the poor conditions highlighted again in this report would be rectified.
The SPCR study has spawned a new MoJ report on the characteristics and needs of young adult (18-20 years old) prisoners and helps to inform resettlement planning.
It is surprising that in 2015, there is almost no British research of sufficient high quality to inform best practice in reducing women’s offending. There is a particular need to develop an effective evidence base around what works in helping women to desist from violent crime.
